Two Where There Was One
by Blindfolded Angel
Summary: A Materia related accident brings back the Vincent from his Turk days. With two Vincents, the return of the GeoStigma and JENOVA, a Portal to the LifeStream to close, the return of past villains and evolving cells to worry about...Can the past be changed?
1. Two Where There Was One

**Title: Two Where There Was One**

**Author: Spazzy the Blindfolded Angel**

**Pairings: Vincent/Lucrecia, Cloud/Tifa, Turk Vincent/??? (don't know yet, either Yuffie or Tifa)**

**Summary: After giving into numerous requests Vincent agrees to go to the Christmas get together. However, a present from a certain Ninja changes everything and now there are two Vincents or more precisely, one ex-Turk and one Turk. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own'em, blah blah blah.**

Chapter 1: Two Where There Was One

I didn't think it was possible…

…And yet…

Hm…I guess this has made me a believer. I thought, really and truly, that the past could not be changed. That what was in the past stays just where it belongs…in the past. Sure, I like many others…hell, more the most… wanted to change the past. Many things could have been avoided just by fixing simple events.

I didn't think it was possible. I knew it could not be done but here I am sitting on the floor of the Shinra…no…our Manor, watching my son unwrap Christmas presents. Yeah, I have a son. Speaking of which, I chuckle as he opens the box I gave him moments ago. I riddled the wiggling box with holes; I didn't want his gift to be prematurely ruined.

He opens the lid slowly, I suppose trying to draw out the flavor of the surprise for as long as possible, and I smile as I watch his eyes widen in shock and then crinkle in laughter as the wiggling furball of a pup I bought him jumps onto his chest, pinning my six year old son to the floor as it attempts to lick off his face.

"Dad! He's awesome!" I hear him say, giggling between licks as he tried to pry off the happy puppy. He pets the dog's fur lovingly, hands trying to smooth down the unruly fur, emerald green eyes looking into adorable sky blue.

"His name is Cloud," I utter subconsciously, catching myself afterwards, a bit shocked and then smiling. How fitting, the dog did remind me of the kid.

I watch as his pale face glimmers with joy, ruffling the wild fur of the dog as he says, "Alright then, Cloud, you want to help me tackle Dad?"

I blink. Hey, since when did giving presents involve getting tackled as a reward? I move to stand, thus getting out of reach but I'm too slow. I let out a small grunt as a blur of silver and gold tackles me into the floor.

I give out a rough bark of laughter, something I used to never do, now that I think about it. I open one eye slowly; looking into the face of my child and the face of his dog sprawled over his head. He smiles…

"Thank you so much! I love you, Dad!"

Somehow it both warms and hurts my heart. I don't deserve this love…but then I open my eyes to the fact that things have changed. I confronted Lucrecia immediately about what was troubling her, The Jenova Project was stopped at Phase 1, Hojo never courted Lucrecia but me, Sephiroth turned out to be my son instead of his this time, Hojo never shot me, Lucrecia never died, I was not altered by hideous experiments and I did not sin, or at least, I do suffer the regrets of which I once did. I still have bloodied hands but what was done was done…I quit the Turks. I have a son. I have a wife. I have a family. I run a small weapons shop at the edge of town…

…I'm happy.

I can't ever forget all that happened and sometimes I still have the nightmares from my other reality…from my hell. But after every single one I wake up to slender arms around me, rocking me gently, my face pressed into silken tresses.

"Its all right, Vincent," she would say to me. And everything would be all right. My nightmares slowly have been dwindling.

…Everything is okay.

I shake my head from those thoughts and look up as laughter chimes throughout the room.

"I found you," she says in between giggles, laughing at the picture of a tall lanky man on his back with a silver haired, green-eyed child and a gold haired, blue-eyed dog on his stomach. And she **smiles**, "My two men."

"Three men, Momma!" I hear him say, taking the wiggling pup into his arms and showing her his gift, "Cloud's a man too!"

The giggles and nods, "My three men. My Cloud. My Sephiroth," and she gazes to me, holding her eyes steady against my red orbs and she **_smiles_** in that way that hurts to look at because it's heartbreakingly beautiful, "My Valentine."

And for god knows how long, I smiled with all my heart. I'm so blessed. And to think I have such funny people to thank for this. And I thank them every second of my life.

* * *

"Welcome Vincent! I was afraid you weren't going to come!" Tifa said warmly, opening the door wider and grabbing the gunman by the wrist, tugging him through the doorway with unbelievable force. Vincent stumbled into the house, trying to get his bearings as Tifa set to worrying about him. He heard snippets of 'how cold it was' and 'can I take your cloak, well, I guess you won't want to take that off' and 'look at all the snow in your hair, Vincent!' and 'your nose is red! I hope you don't catch a cold' which all seemed to come at once as she brushed the snow from his ebony locks. She only stopped to breathe when she stretched up on her socked toed feet to be able to reach his face. With two warm creamy hands she gently cradled his jaw and brought him to eye level, making him bend over instead of her stretching. She kept him that way for a bit, searching his eyes intently while he nervously waited for her to let go.

"You don't look so hot, Vincent. I didn't think that you could get sick, you never did before but then again," she babbled on, he stopped listening, concentrating instead on the soft hands that touched his slightly hot brow.

Yes, he was feeling a bit under the weather but he was sure that after all that Hojo did to him he was incapable of getting sick anymore. He probably just felt bad because of the cold weather. Once he sat down and warmed up he would be fine.

Vincent Valentine doesn't get sick.

"Don't worry about me Tifa," he said firmly, pulling his head up out of her hands gently before sniffing the air, "Do I smell burning muffins?"

He suppressed a chuckle as he watched Tifa's mahogany eyes widen. She shrieked something along the lines of 'oh dear god' and ran off into the kitchen, waving at the smoke billowing out from it.

Vincent shook his head and walked into the family room, his duffle bag in tow. He didn't get far into the family room before two children, Marlene and Denzel, tackled him.

"Vincent! You came!" he heard the muffled call of excitement from Marlene as she buried her face into his cloak, her arms circling his lean frame as best they could. Denzel yanked at his hand, "Hello, Mister Vincent! You're that gun guy, right? Can you teach me? Cloud says he won't teach me how to use a sword until I'm older but would you teach me to use a gun? Please?"

Vincent bit back a groan, trying to figure out where to start and who to start with before Barrel came to his rescue.

"Leave the poor man alone, kids! He's anti-social enough as it is without you two pushing him deeper into his shell," Barrel yelled with that voice Vincent's eardrum's never got accustomed to.

Trying to ignore the anti-social crack, which meant that the jokes were starting already, Vincent made his way to an empty seat, the armchair beside where Red XIII was laying.

Nanaki peered up to him with his good eye, pulling his head up from where it laid on crossed paws to greet him with a nod, "Hello Vincent. I surprised to see you here. I'm glad you came."

Vincent sat down, well, more like threw himself, into the chair, laying his head back on the high back and letting his human hand drift down over the armrest to nestle behind Nanaki's ears. Red XII allowed only the children and Vincent to do this and at the moment, Vincent was glad the fire cat didn't mind, finding the silken fur soothing to his hot feverish hands. Red automatically felt the unnatural heat, peering up to look at his friend's perspiring brow, "Vincent, are you-"

"I am fine, just tired from the journey, my friend."

Vincent heard footsteps draw near him but he didn't bother to open his eyes. Judging by the tempo of the step he could tell it was Cloud.

"It's been a while, Vincent."

"Indeed it has," the gunner said gently, opening one ruby eye to peer at the blonde's face. Nothing had really changed but Vincent could tell that the boy was lighter somehow. After forgiving himself for what was done and confronting Sephiroth for what Vincent hoped to be the final time Cloud seemed to be a in good health.

"We were afraid when you didn't come back after the Omega incident."

"Shelke gave you word of me," Vincent said softly.

Cloud crossed his arms, raised one eyebrow and lifted his chin, chuckling, "We would have appreciated getting the word in person," he sighed, "Vincent, I've been meaning to speak with you-"

Two giggling girls interrupted Cloud. Yuffie held Marlene's small hand in her own, both smiling in a way that made Vincent nervous. Tifa stood behind them, smiling in the way a mother does when surrounded by her family.

"Alright, now that everyone is here, lets open presents!" Yuffie and Marlene exclaimed together.

A general agreement was settled. Marlene and Denzel dove for the tree, grabbing presents and bringing them to everyone in turn. Everybody got everyone something so they decided to take things slow. Marlene and Denzel would take turns giving them out. Whoever the present belonged to opened it, everyone watched and then they would move on to the next and so on.

Vincent nudged his duffle bag under the tree, leaving it open so the kids could get the presents from within easily.

The first present was for Cloud, from Cid. The gift was a pair of riding goggles, like the old pair he had before Yazoo shot them to a million and one pieces. He thanked Cid who waved his hand, brushing away the gesture and saying something like 'Christmas spirit, ya know?' under his breath.

Next was Tifa, from Cloud. It was a small velvet black box topped with a red bow. Marlene smiled and gave the box to Cloud instead. Cloud blushed before standing, walking up to Tifa and bending unto one knee, opening the little box for her to see what lay inside. A white gold band that twisted into two, diamonds curled between the two tendrils of gold leading up to a large diamond in the middle. Cloud paused, watching Tifa's face light up as she covered it with shaking hands, cheeks flushed, eyes watering, "Oh Cloud!"

"Tifa, there is only one thing I want this Christmas and every Christmas after this, forever and for always. I want us to be together. I want you to be my wife, to fully become my family. Tifa, will you marry me?"

After much cheering and crying and laughing Tifa said yes. Cloud gathered her tightly in his arms, afraid to let go because the moment seemed too real and yet so fragile, this intangible lovely thing he could even begin to grasp and loved it for its simple complexity, never wanting it to go.

The rest of that night went by smoothly. Everyone received gifts and everyone was happy. Vincent looked down to the small pile that had grown at his feet. He received nightclothes from Tifa, no doubt in preparation for his stay over the holidays, a beautiful new pair of guns that Cid and Barret spilt between them, one called Ebony the other Ivory and they fit their names. Cloud gave him a new leather holster that would fit quite nicely around his torso, effectively conceal his new twin pistols and allow easy access to them. Nanaki gave him a new piece of weaponry from Cosmo Cannon, well, sort of. It was a long chain necklace with a small tube at the bottom filled with a glowing blue liquid. It gave off a soft gentle smell, like the wind and the rain. Nanaki had said it would come in handy if he ever found himself short of anything in the cure and restore area of his items. Reeve gave him something called a Me-Pod. The Me-Pod could store music of his choice, it seemed. Vincent would have to thank the man and his cat in person for their humorous gift, perhaps with the help of his new guns? He shrugged it off, he would get over it. Marlene and Denzel got him a small plush toy of a chocobo, its tuffs of plushy fur were black and the eyes were red. 'Just like you!' Marlene had told him happily when she gave it to him. He kindly thanked them both. Shelke wasn't present but she left him something via the mail that came a few days ago, according to Tifa. Inside the package was a letter, quite thick actually and a picture album but he didn't look through yet nor did he let anyone else, much to Yuffie's disappointment.

Finally, there was just one gift left under the tree from a certain ninja to a certain gunner. The box was medium sized and square. Yuffie was just beside herself with excitement, bouncing up and down in her chair as she waited for Vincent to open the gift. He knew what it was. Everyone else got back pieces of materia that went 'missing' and he assumed this to be his mastered fire materia or his rare summon materia that went missing a while back. However, he was wrong.

Inside of the box was a piece of materia he had never seen before. Not only that but it wasn't colored like the other materia he had seen on his journey. Now that he thought about it, this materia didn't resemble the others in any way. It was a glossy clear orb and inside the mako swirled around like snow. It was beautiful. He raised his eyebrows, quite a show of expression, and looked to Yuffie.

"Isn't it amazing? I found it the other day! I thought you might like it, Vincent, cause it looks like snow and I know how much you love snow! Maybe it's a mastered blizzard materia?" She began to babble on and on but Vincent stopped listening.

He was more interested with the fact that this unknown piece of materia was **_activating_** without his command. The crew all gasped, wide-eyed and panicky, ducking and dodging as the materia in the ex-Turk's hands came to life. Vincent made to move but found the strength to do so drained from him, as though the little orb of mako were stealing it. It was warm in his palm and its glow steadily got brighter.

Finding the will to stand he threw himself from the chair with a grunt of protest, dropping the materia in the process. He looked to the side, muscles bunching as he prepared to dive for cover but it was too late. In a matter of seconds the snowy orb hit the wooden floor, the steadily growing glow spread into a blinding flash throughout the room, followed by a hoarse shout of pain that seemed to double half way through, and finally the silence of the dead.

The room seemed fine, no harm done. There was no snow or fire or scorch marks on the floor so the group assumed the materia didn't do anything but show pretty lights. That's when they heard to muffled groans.

The group slowly let their eyes wander from the slightly smoking materia to the two bodies on the floor beside it.

"Er, am I insane or is there a second guy on the floor next to Vincent?" Tifa said with a shaky voice.

Vincent lay in a boneless heap face down on the floor. His blood red cloak hissed with smoke. He groaned but didn't move, showing no other signs of consciousness. His brows were drawn tight, showing the obvious pain he was in that he would have masked if he were awake.

Beside him laid another man. This man had short glossy black hair, his bangs parted to the side, more so on one side that the other, the length tracing his slender jaw line and gently caressing his cheek. He had creamy pale skin, soft lips and his face was young and despite his unconsciousness one could clearly see he was a fun loving man judging by the very soft lines around his mouth and eyes that resulted from laughter. His suit was somewhat crumpled due to his position, dark blue against his pale skin and zipped half way up, hiding the button up business shirt he wore beneath. At his hip was a gun, Quicksilver scrawled across the barrel and he wore slacks to match his suit. His gloves were fingerless, perfect for gunmanship. This man also appeared to be in pain, his brow drawn tight and his form sizzling much like Vincent's was.

"Yuffie," Cloud said gently, still in shock, "What kind of materia was that?"

"I don't know."

To Be Continued.

* * *

Hope you liked it, more to come soon! Reviews will make me write that much faster and if you have any questions feel free to ask!

**-Spazzy**

* * *

**EDIT: Fixing the layout so that it is more organized. Found out that FanFic took out all my time breaks so I thought I would fix'em. Hope this doesn't confuse anyone. **


	2. Mirror Reflections

Chapter 2: Mirror Reflections 

"Bah! Some Christmas this turned out to be!" Cid said moodily, his thumb brushing his nose in a trademark manner.

"Don't be so nasty, old man!" Yuffie snapped, sitting close to the motionless gunman, or at least _her_ motionless gunman. Or at least, that's what would have happened if Cid were actually here. Cid went off with Cloud two days ago. Yuffie and Vincent were alone in the room.

It had been two days since she gave Vincent her gift.

_Two days… Vincent has been out cold for two days and its all my fault… _Yuffie thought to herself sadly, her hand softly cradling the limp hand of the gunner.

They had changed his clothes to those that Tifa got him for his stay. The leather was just too confining and too risky to let him wear in this condition. Instead he wore thick black sweat pants, loose around his slim frame, a red tank top that cradled his torso just so and his red bandana. Tifa had tried to remove the gauntlet from his arm in cause he should thrash for any reason between nightmares or reactions to what happened…

…That's when they finally let it sink in, just what had happened to their friend during his years with Hojo. Cloud went off to check out Nibelheim and the Shinra Manor, to see if he could find out a little more about the ex-Turk's past.

That's also when the phone rang. Yuffie kept an ear out for the conversation that followed but kept her eyes on the man before her. She let her hands move to his brow, taking off the bandana and letting her fingers brush back the unruly black locks. Vincent twitched and let out a soft noise, neither annoyed nor pained. Yuffie smiled, her heart pained by what she did to her friend. _I'm so sorry; Vincent… if I had known what it would do to you…_

His skin was pale and clammy, unbearably hot to her touch. His thick raven hair clung to his face and his body shivered despite the numerous layers of blankets that were laid on him. His little chocobo plush that he received from Marlene and Denzel sat next to his clawed hand, hinting to a late night visit that the others didn't see.

"Cloud, did you find anything?" she heard Tifa say as she answered, her voice hushed so that the children would not hear.

Yuffie sighed, glancing to the claw that they just discovered was grafted into his flesh. _The pain you must have gone through… Vincent…_

"You're coming home? How much longer will you be?" Tifa asked in a rush.

Yuffie glanced sidelong to the door of the room. It was closed but she knew Marlene and Denzel were behind it. Both of the children loved the dark gunman so much. Vincent was like family to them. Yuffie wrinkled her nose at the thought of what kind of family Vincent would be. Not a brother, no. Nor an uncle or father. Not a Grandpa, she giggled, a soft and slightly pained sound. No… Vincent was their God Father. She nodded, agreeing with herself. Yeah, definitely a God Father. He was protective of them and he always came out of his shell just a bit more when he was alone with them. The children seemed to warm him. Probably because he was twenty-seven before he was 'killed'. Nearing the age of fatherhood and probably ready to make that step, ready for a family, for a child… for a wife.

"By tomorrow morning? Good, that's only a couple of hours away! Did you find anything Cloud… uh-huh?" then Yuffie heard a pause. She knew that whatever Cloud was telling her wasn't good.

"You…did find the files then?" Tifa breathed, "You'll be bringing them?"

Yuffie looked back to the gunman before her and bit back the tears stinging her eyes. He looked so painfully… fragile. It wasn't right! He was Vincent Valentine! He had four friggin' monsters in him that he could change into! He was this dependable comrade that never minded pain, never failed, never cried…never got sick. He wasn't fragile. He wasn't the man before her, shivering and weak. He couldn't die… could he?

Yuffie closed her eyes and thought back to the times they fought together. Vincent was the one member of the group that took blows for the others… for her. The others, Cloud, Tifa, Cid, Barret, Nanaki…they rarely ever took blows for anyone else and when they did it was a matter of life and death. But Vincent… whenever possible Vincent would jump in front of the others, taking the blows he didn't deserve…and then he would _change._ He would become this creature, different each time. He would become this huge thing, fierce and deadly and raw power. His wounds would heal, no evidence left behind of ever being wounded. That was Vincent Valentine, not this man. Not this painfully mortal man before her.

"Alright, I'll see you then, Cloud."

She heard footsteps approaching, the scamper of the other footsteps that belonged to children that should be asleep. She didn't bother to turn around when the door opened.

"Is he doing any better, Yuffie?" Tifa asked gently, trying to hide the hurt in her voice. Whatever Cloud told her wasn't good at all…

"He hasn't woken up yet, no."

"Oh, alright. Nanaki is going to come switch with you in a half' hour. I'll go check on…our guest," Tifa said, closing the door behind her.

Yuffie snorted. _Our guest. _The Turk was not a guest. He was the reason Vincent was like this.

Vincent stirred in his sleep, his brows twitched in pain or anger and then she heard him speak.

"Hojo, you bastard."

_Bastard indeed._ Yuffie agreed.

* * *

The Turk looked around his room once again, scanning every nook and cranny, confirming to himself for the umpteenth time that there was no escape. He had a job to go to in the morning and Shinra did not accept tardiness.

He turned and got into stance at the sound of a key in a lock. He narrowed his dull wine red eyes as the doorknob turned and the door opened. They had taken his gun but they also underestimated him. Anyone who didn't tie up his or her captive was a fool. He was dealing with fools.

"Hello, I see you are awake," a woman with long braided black hair entered his room; her eyes alight with the same hues as his own.

"What do you want with me? If this about getting information about Shinra you will be sorely disappointed. I shall tell you nothing," he snarled, glaring at her through his long parted bangs.

The woman held her hands up in surrender, smiling softly but unable to hide a foreign pain to him behind it. "Whoa there, killer. I'm not trying to get information out of you and I didn't kidnap you. I'm Tifa Lockheart, you are currently in my bar," Tifa explained as she walked over to the bed shortly after closing the door behind her. She sat down, smoothing out her long black skirts straightening the black button up blouse. After she was done she looked up to the Turk confidently, friendly, and continued, "We were celebrating Christmas. Our friend, Yuffie, gave Vincent a new materia that she found. Before we knew what happened, the materia activated and hurt our friend. Vincent is currently in the other room, in a coma from what we can tell. When the light from the materia ended, you were lying next to our friend. We don't know what happened but based off of what Nanaki can tell us, the materia went into Vincent's memory and literally animated it. You were the result of the accident, Mr. Valentine."

'Mr. Valentine' blinked and took a step back, blown away by what he heard. It all sounded so… ridiculous.

"I'm sorry but I don't take well to pranks. Who put you up to it? Was it- oh never mind, it doesn't matter!" he exclaimed, picking up his Turk coat from where it laid on a chair. He tugged it on, straightening his suit, keeping his eyes off of the girl as he began to search for Quicksilver, "Where is my gun?"

"Why, are you going to shoot me, Mr. Valentine?" Tifa asked gently, watching him with amusement. _This can't be what Vincent was like. He is just so… not Vincent-y. _

"No, I'm going home. I have work to go to tomorrow and I don't think they'll understand my being late just because some little girl wanted to play games!"

Tifa scowled, _not Vincent-y at all!_ "Excuse me, did you just call me a little girl?" she raised an eyebrow at him, a slight warning that any false move would result in a fist in his face.

The man before her only chuckled obviously peeved by his situation. He paced the room like a caged animal, his walk quick long strides, getting him across the room at a remarkable speed. He stopped and twisted to see her, enraged by all that was happening, "I am supposed to be getting my mission information today, Miss Lockheart! I've been assigned to a long term and classified mission that will give me an all expenses paid trip to Nibelheim! I'm not particularly thrilled about being sent to the middle of no where to watch a bundle of scientists with a god complex but I don't have a choice and tardiness is not how I plan to start my mission!"

"Did you hear me at all? I said, did you call me a- wait a second… you mean you haven't started your mission in Nibelheim yet?" Tifa asked, amazed.

"Are you deft or daft? Yes, that is what I said," he snapped, rubbed the wrong way for all that was happening.

_That explains why they are so different. This is how he was like before…Hojo, Lucrecia…Chaos._

"Vincent, I don't think you understand…"

"No you don't understand! I don't work in a business that just blows off mistakes like its nothing! I need to get to work before they send me on a suicidal mission instead!" he snarled at her.

Tifa looked down at the floor, the loose pieces of her hair that weren't in the braid fell before her face like a curtain, "Vincent, that was years ago."

"I'm very well aware of the date, thank you, Miss Lockheart. I'll be going now."

She stood quite quickly, grabbing him by the wrist before he could move and without looking at him, her eyes still shadowed away, she whispered, "Follow me."

With that said she began to lead him to his other self, to the man Hojo altered. To his future self.

* * *

"Where are you taking me?" the Turk asked, calmer now but not by much.

"Just wait," was her response as she dragged him throughout her home, taking him to a room that held a certain gunman, "I'm going to show you the man who was involved in the accident, Mr. Valentine."

"The man? You mean this other me you keep talking about?" he asked mockingly, venom in his voice.

Tifa let go of his wrist and put her hand on the doorknob of Vincent's room, "Yes, that is who I mean," she raised her head, letting her hair fall back to show him the watery wine colored eyes behind them. She opened the door and looked to Yuffie who got the hint and stood, giving one last glance to the man in the bed and walked through the door, pushing against the Turk's shoulder as she left.

"Jerk," she muttered as she passed.

The Turk looked after her, bewildered, and then turned his gaze back to the woman before him.

"Don't worry about her. Vincent means a lot to Yuffie and she thinks you are to blame for his condition," Tifa said softly, leaving room for the Turk to pass.

'Mr. Valentine' passed her, walking into the room he heard the door shut behind him but his glance did not stray.

All he could hear was the faint and uneven breath of another man and as he got closer his heart began to drop. The man in the bed…looked just like him.

It was like looking into a mirror. A mirror that showed the future because this man before him both was and was not him. This man, his mirror reflection, was pale in an unhealthy manner while he had a creamy life filled look to his flesh. This man before him had long unruly black hair. He had short well-kept hair. But this was him… this was his future self.

His eyes drifted to something that gleamed in the moonlight through the window. Something that gleamed gold. His eyes widened and he nearly gagged. His so-called 'future self' had no human arm. Instead there was a mechanical monstrosity attached from just above the elbow and down to every razor-edged finger.

He heard a hoarse gravelly chuckle.

"That's the same exact look I had when I first woke up to see what he did to me," the man before him said. He watched as the man's eyes opened, oh so very slowly, to reveal scorching scarlet eyes… glowing eyes. _Eyes kissed by Mako._ Something he always said to refer to those who were tainted by Mako radiation.

The man, this _Vincent Valentine_ only gave him a weak and pitying smile.

"You aren't me," the younger Vincent whispered, his voice wavering.

The older version only smiled and looked away, setting his gaze upon the moon, "You're right. I'm not you."

Tifa merely watched, sadness in her wine red hues.

"You are all that is left of my humanity… I am a monster," the oldest said as he sat up in bed, "We are not the same, not anymore."

With that the younger version merely growled and brought his hand up above his head, fingers curled into a fist but he was stopped short by slender strong fingers tight around his wrist.

"Stop it!" Tifa snarled, glaring at him fiercely, "Just stop!"

The younger gazed at her, slowly calming, caught between anger and guilt and confusion and _fear_.

"Let him go, Tifa," the ex-Turk whispered, his eyes never leaving the moon, "It is all right, leave him be."

"But Vincent, he-"

"You must understand, Tifa, that where I am calm… once I was not. This is a lot for him to digest. You cannot expect him to act rationally when he does not know what I know or have the experience I have. He is the Vincent Valentine of, what, thirty-four, thirty-five years ago? He is merely 27, Tifa. I am 61. I would have reacted the same way if I were his age. If I were not a monster."

"Vincent…" Tifa said softly, "You aren't a monster. I thought you let this go."

"…Let us not speak of it now," he began before his glowing red eyes widen. He fell into a fit of horrid coughs that shook his lanky frame. When he had finished he swayed in place.

"Vincent?" Tifa said, her voice thick with worry and she pushed the Turk out of the way who complied with no qualms.

Vincent's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell with a soft thump back into the mattress, his raven locks spread like a fan beneath his head. Tifa gasped and ran to his side, placing her cold hand to his feverish head before calling for help.

The others rushed in, brushing past the Turk who slowly backed into the corner of the room, shaking with shock and fear before slowly sliding down to the floor to watch with blank eyes.

"Vincent?!"

"Oh God, what happened?!"

"Hey Vamp, Can you hear me?"

"Vincent, wake up!"

"Oh Gaia, what is on his hand?"

And then all eyes turned to the ex-Turk's only remaining human hand, which was splattered with a thick red substance. _Blood…_

"We need a doctor!"

_Vincent…_

* * *

**So what do you think? Yeah, Turk Vinnie is a bit out of character but don't worry, things'll change. I plan to make his role quick humorous and fun. He'll be quite a contrast to the older Vincent Valentine. The Me-Pod'll come in later too!**

**Oh, and before I forget, a quick poll. **

**Who should Turk Vincent be paired with?**

**-Spazzy**

* * *

**EDIT: Fixing the layout so that it is more organized. Found out that FanFic took out all my time breaks so I thought I would fix'em. Hope this doesn't confuse anyone.**


	3. Chit Chat

Chapter 3: Waiting

_"I promised I would leave this place, that I would try and live this life for the both of us. I'm sorry, Lucrecia…I don't know why I'm here," he said softly after he got over the shock of feeling that cold crystalline floor beneath him._

_He looked up to her, the love of his life. He looked up at her prison and at her sanctuary as she lay frozen within an icy existence. His eyes seemed to glow within this place, filled with unsaid emotions that were finally free from the barrier around his heart._

_"-cent…Vin…cent…" he heard her whispers, they caressed the very walls of the cave, the vibrations of her voice taunting his ears. _

_He glanced up, watching as the woman he loved began to stir within her prison. His eyes widened and he sat there, one knee bent, arm resting across it. His bangs parted away from his gaze. "Lucrecia?"_

_She stirred, moving sluggishly. Her head moved from its tilt so she could lift it to see him. Her eyes opened slowly, blinking away her many years of sleep. Hazel eyes drifted around the cave until they finally settled upon the red clad figure. She blinked and then, to his amazement and further shock…she **smiled.**_

_She smiled at him in the way he always dreamed. He always imagined waking up in the morning, turning to his side to see the woman cradled form fittingly to his side, brushing the hair form her porcelain face to watch her wake, to watch her wake and **smile.**_

_But seeing her behind that glassy prison made his heart break. She was still unattainable. It was his fault; the pain came hurdling back to him, constricting the humanity he thought he lost. _

_"Vincent," her voice just as warm as he remembered, bringing back that place, the hill in Nibelheim. Their place. _

_"Lucrecia…"_

_"Vincent," she said. He watched her full lips as they moved, forming the shapes that allowed her to let free her voice, "I-"_

_Her eyes widened in shock, in fear, in **pain.**_

_He leaned forward, his eyes searching hers as he spoke in a panic, "Lucrecia, what's wrong? Are you hurt? Lucrecia?"_

_She brought her pale slender hand to her mouth, shaking her head. He watched those glassy tears pool down from her eyes as she finally spoke, "I'm so sorry!"_

_He stopped,_

_"Why?" he whispered, searching her face for explanation and finding none._

_One slender finger rose up from its place at her mouth, pointing to him, or more specifically, his face._

_'Chaos?' he asked himself as he brought his hand up to touch his face, afraid to find cold skin instead of his own. Thankfully he found the touch to be warm…and wet?_

_He brought his hand into his view, looking at the fingers of his fingerless gloves and examining the thick red substance staining the tip of his calloused fingers. Blood…_

_He brought his hand up again, swiping at the blood which collecting in his mouth and dripped from the corners. That's when he realized he couldn't breathe. He tried to take a lung full of air but instead he made a horrid gurgling noise as the blood in his throat and mouth drowned him, pooling into his inhuman lungs at a deadly rate._

_His long fingers scraped at his throat, eyes wide in a panic he never usually showed went struck with._

_'I'm **drowning.'**_

_"I'm so sorry! Vincent!"_

_He brought his eyes up to look at her, the glowing hues slowly becoming dull._

_**"You should have known, you insolent boy," **he heard a high pitched and chilly voice break through the gasping silence, "**That if Chaos didn't kill you I would still find a way."**_

_He turned around, making his vision swim as he studied the man behind him. Hojo._

_A gunshot rang loud throughout the cave and the bullet flew true._

_Another hole in his crumbling heart._

* * *

He sat up with a jerk, or at he least he almost did. His body got a few inched off the soft mattress beneath him before running out of strength and flopping back down. He groaned at the impact. Even the feather soft touch of the blanket made his skin burn. What was happening to him?

He glanced around at his surroundings, trying to differ one blur from another. It was dark outside, nighttime had settled over them but he could hear the soft hum of machines, both near him and far away. '_Must be on the **Highwind**_,' he thought to himself.

The room itself was pretty bare. He noticed it to be the medical wing of the airship as he took a closer look. The blankets were piled on top of him, several at least, each tucked so that his chest was exposed. He had a thin t-shirt on and the fact startled him. He hoped that whoever changed him wasn't too thoroughly disturbed. A quick glance told him that what he had under his normal clothing was still on. A thin layer of sweat hugged his body, whether from heat or from his dream, he didn't know.

He moaned softly once more as he tried to sit up, getting halfway there before two strong hands pressed him back into the bed.

"You need to rest," a soothing voice whispered to him. Much to his surprise, it was himself.

"So I wasn't dreaming, you really are here."

"Hmp, I'm not exactly thrilled about this either," the younger retorted with a scowl.

The expression lightened his heart somewhat as he took in the features of his younger self. He used to have a lot of emotions, now that he thought about it. He used to express himself quite a lot until…

He shook the thought away as he glared at the Turk, "Let go of me."

The Turk obliged but the second the Ex-Turk began to move to get up he found those hands at his shoulders again, holding him down.

"What was her name…Mrs. Lockheart? She told me that if I let you up she would personally tie me up by the ankles and dangle me from the railing of the ship. I find her more threatening than you."

Vincent laughed within himself. _'Tifa doesn't have four monsters within her. But then again, Tifa is pretty frightening when she wishes to be.'_

_"_I'm fine."

"That explains why you were coughing up blood and convulsing. My bad, go ahead and prove me wrong, I don't care," the Turk growled.

"It is not something that you need to worry yourself about," Vincent responded, forcing his aching body to sit up once more. He accomplished the task this time, however, the movement left him weaker than ever, his breath coming out in short gasps that he tried in vain to conceal.

"Wow, good job. You proved me wrong all right," the younger said with a roll of the eyes, "I didn't believe'em when they told me I was a stubborn little shit but this has truly opened my eyes."

"Glad to have been of assistance to you," Vincent growled softly. He stole a look out the window of the hospital wing, taking in the sight of the swirling snow beating down upon them, "Is Cid okay…flying in this?"

He heard rather than saw the shrug of the Turk behind him, "I have no idea but when I asked I was threatened. I'd rather not die because I questioned someone who has more experience in flying than I."

'_I forgot just how little I knew about flying. Crashing a helicopter kind of limited the amount of time I got to practice in one.'_

Vincent looked to his younger self and asked, "How long have I been out?"

"You mean since we first met?" the Turk asked thoughtfully before looking out the window, "I'd saw…about two days."

"Two days…" Vincent repeated, letting the words soak in. He never had to deal with wounds or poisons. Bed rest for him was waiting for Chaos or one of the other beasts to heal him. At the most, that took about an hour, two tops. He never got sick either. Once upon a time, yes, but not since…_him_.

"The others…they called themselves AVALANCHE? They're worried about you," the Turk said softly, watching his older self stare out to window.

"…I know."

"Hm…"

Vincent glanced to his less experienced self and raised an eyebrow, his version of 'what the hell are you griping about?'

The Turk didn't speak for a while. Instead he opted for studying his future self, looking the form up and down before slowly setting his rusty red gaze onto the blazing red of his other self.

"How did you…how do we end up the way we do?" the Turk asked in a voice barely over a whisper, his gaze never straying.

Vincent looked himself in the eyes, trying to judge whether or not telling his story would be wise.

"Perhaps another time," Vincent responded, moving his gaze to the window once more.

He held back a smile, however small it maybe; as he could _feel_ the waves of annoyance admit from his younger self.

The Turk was about to protest when he heard footsteps approach the door of their room. His hand moved to grasp a gun that was missing in action.

"Vincent and…er…Vincent? Are you two awake?" Tifa's voice was soft, as if she didn't want to wake them if they were still sleeping.

Both men decided that they didn't wish to respond and so they sat in silence, each shooting a gaze to each other.

Vincent's gaze clearly said, "Both of us awake? Now why would she ask that?"

The Turk's clearly said, "Drop it."

They heard Tifa's footsteps dwindle away but both heard what came afterwards.

"Tell those assholes that they are still sleeping. I doubt either would want to be 'honored' by Rufus Shinra's presence anyways."

They looked at each other but once again, the glances were different. Excitement. Anger and dread.

"If I can't get the information from you I can get it from Shinra," the Turk smirked, proud of his clever wit.

"Shinra will enslave you to their service, making you work for that valuable bit of information you so clearly desire," Vincent said softly, anger evident under the calm waves of his voice.

"It'd be worth it. I am a Turk."

"Ever think that maybe I won't tell you for a reason?" Vincent snarled quietly.

"I'm a big boy, I think I can handle it."

Vincent paused, keeping a steady stare at his younger and more determined self. After what felt like minutes the older of the two let out a hoarse laugh that held no good hearted humor within it.

"Fine. I'll give you a little taste of that which you so dearly wish to know," Vincent growled, demented humor laced within the tone, "No explanations, and no words."

The younger was obviously confused by the statement. _No explanations or words…what the hell is talking about?_

He watched silently as Vincent struggled to pull down a small piece of his shirt, past the collarbone and down to where his heart lay.

"Dear Gaia…"

* * *

**CLIFFHANGER! FEAR ME!**

**Ahem. Sorry for the delay, I've got quite a lot on my plate lately but I swear I have been working on this and I do not plan on giving up!**

_**Reviews are loved!**_

**-Spazzy**

* * *

**EDIT: Fixing the layout so that it is more organized. Found out that FanFic took out all my time breaks so I thought I would fix'em. Hope this doesn't confuse anyone.**


	4. Scars and Revelations

Chapter 4: Scars and Revelations 

He nearly stopped breathing. His throat opened and closed rapidly, not allowing breath but not refusing it either. His eyes, those deep brownish red eyes were captivated by the answer his older self had provided.

A _scar_.

Puckered flesh that lay taunt across his breast, over his heart. But not just a scar, no, it wasn't as simple as that. The deeply gouged flesh seemed to be stretched, the skin too tight for the unhealthily thin body. The puckered edges of the scar still looked raw, as though the wound that was inflicted upon him years ago had only healed the other day. The mother of pearl skin seemed to radiate pain that cut deeper than any physical feeling. It wasn't the scar of Hojo's first bullet, the one that hit his gut but it was one of many hurts bestowed upon him after the experiments started. It was the pain of betrayal and lost future and lost love and so much more. Unexplainable through words, only through heart and even then it was impossible to understand to anyone but him.

Vincent held the shirt down low enough for one solitary scar to show, one of many but one which held his pain and all his memories of that place, of that time, that lab. He watched his younger self's expression, holding back a bitter smile as he thought of his own reaction to his _modifications_, as Hojo called them, all those years ago.

"How…why?" his younger self stuttered from the lack of words, his mouth suddenly dry.

"No explanations, and no words, remember?" Vincent said calmly as he released the soft fabric of his shirt to slide gently over the throbbing and feverish flesh.

The disappearance of the marked flesh allowed the Tuck's senses to come rushing back. He growled softly at his older self and retorted, "A scar doesn't explain anything."

"I told you I would give you a taste. That was your taste."

"More like a sip to me."

* * *

"Cloud, shouldn't we have err…the other Vincent here as well. He deserves to know, right?" Tifa said softly, her heart fluttering as she explained her reasoning.

"If it were my decision, Tifa, I would have him in here, no questions asked. But…" Cloud paused, looking down at the files under his pale and capable hands. The calloused fingers brushed over the deep engravings the pen held over the file's cover and he bit back a sad sigh.

"Vincent asked you to leave his former self out of this, didn't he?" Nanaki asked gently, his eyes closed but his instincts seeing through everything in the room. He through his instincts to the wind, scouting a course to his destination and finding it. He was learning, still learning but he knew this. He slipped into his target's essence, allowing the bearer's mind and thoughts to sift into his own. His heart throbbed but he understood now.

Just five seconds. Five seconds and he withdrew before the other could notice. He knew why the younger was not with them now. He had looked for other things as well when he searched but they were sealed tight. He winced, dipping his chin to his chest as the skin above his heart throbbed and his stomach clenched. The fire cat suppressed a groan of pain as he felt these things, as he felt his heart constrict and his flesh scorch and his bones ache. Most of which Vincent dealt with everyday. Such pain…

Even as those feelings passed a ghost of a wound bit through his flesh and above his heart his skin broke, blood trickled slowly down through deep red fur and then healed. The ghost of a wound…

"How did he know we found his files?" Yuffie exclaimed.

Cloud shook his head, "I don't know…"

Nanaki glanced at Cloud, a question in his eye, sad and sorrowful but he would wait.

"He asked me, regardless, to leave him out of this so I will honor his request," Cloud finished.

Cid sighed gently, "Lets get on with it then."

* * *

Cloud and Vincent's Meeting 

_He looked so fragile lying there beneath those sheets, so mortal._

_"How did this happen to you, Vincent?" Cloud sighed, closing his eyes and rubbing the bridge of his nose, lying back in his chair with a sigh._

_"I cannot say," a rough voice met his ears and instantly his blue eyes opened to look past his fingers at the bridge of his nose to the blood red gaze that studied him._

_"How long have you been awake, Vincent?"_

_"I cannot say."_

_Cloud looked at his friend, not bothering with the question of if he felt all right or not, vouching for another instead, "Can I get you anything, Vincent?"_

_A pause._

"_You found my files…in Nibelheim." it wasn't a question, more like a statement. _

"_Vincent, I…yes, we sought out your files in Nibelheim and we found them," Cloud said gently, waiting for his comrade's reaction._

_Another pause, a raspy breath and the filling of lungs, "Don't let him see."_

_Cloud blinked and picked up his head to see his comrade, "Don't let who see, Vincent?"_

_Vincent slowly moved his gaze from the ceiling and back onto Cloud, Mako kissed eyes gazing upon another, "The Turk, don't let him see."_

_Cloud's eyes widened, "Why wouldn't you want him to know, Vincent? He is you in a sense," Cloud thought back to Lucrecia's Cave and how Vincent left out bits of information to her at first as well._

_Vincent remained in his prone state, looking to the window outside, "I will tell him myself all in due time, Cloud. If there is anyone who knows him best it is me, don't you think?"_

"_Yeah but-"_

_Vincent shook his head, "No, Cloud. I'll tell him when the time comes but not now, not yet. Let him live in what little peace he has for now. I don't want to strip from him that which was stripped from me."_

_After that there was a silence that drifted somewhere between comfort and awkward, Cloud couldn't tell which it was. _

_Cloud took that which Vincent told him and tried to put two and two together. However, there were still pieces missing, he would simply have to keep at it, he'd figure it out eventually._

"_Vincent?"_

"…"

"_Do you know what is happening to you? Surely not sins…"_

"_I think that is a part of it, Cloud," Vincent said softly, "But no, I think this is something else entirely. Something worse than that…"_

_Cloud merely looked at him with a confused gaze, watching as Vincent's eyes got heavier and began to sink down until he was again asleep._

"_Something worse…"_

* * *

Pictures, there were so many pictures. Picture that served as a window to the past, to _his_ past. Pictures that were filled blood and tools and pain, _his _blood…_his_ pain.

There by his right hand was a picture of a severed arm, flesh torn and ragged just above the elbow, the hand pale against the stark red stains. It must have been elegant and deadly once, soft and murderous, pale and stained…it was his, wasn't it?

And there, next to Cid was a picture of a man in a cell, huddled and pressed into a corner as though he couldn't get close enough. The picture was dark but not dark enough to hide the eyes. The figure's hand scrabbled to cover them but through the fingers of his remaining hand was two brilliantly red eyes blazing through the darkness, pain and sorrow and hurt and fear causing the red to shine all the brighter.

Another picture another story and there seemed to be an endless supply. There, a scarcely clothed man with short hair screamed in pain, clutching at an arm with too many injections. Here, a dark furry beast, monstrous and looming, destroying all within reach past the double reinforced glass of his cell.

And there…a man lies on his stomach, cheek pressed to the filthy ground carelessly, red eyes broken and uncaring. Nothing mattered, not anymore, not to that man. Scars and wounds and punctures evident on his malnourished rail thin frame. Two scars stand out the most. One over his shoulder blade, parallel to his heart, one that went like a cross, down his back and across his shoulders. _Transformations…_

"Oh Vincent!" Tifa gasped from behind her trembling hands.

"Dear God…" Cid let out a shaky breath, somehow lacking his normal curses.

"That's not even the beginning of it…" Cloud whispered, pulling out numberless CDs, each with its own title.

Yuffie suppressed a sudden need to gag that had nothing to do with the movements of the airship.

* * *

Video Recording 

**_The sound of leather soled shoes tapping across cold stone, advancing the man prone in a tank of Mako, glittering and more green than blue._**

_**"When do you plan on waking up, Turk? Do you ever plan on waking up? You can't follow her, you know. Both of you are Damned but I'll make sure that no matter what you cannot follow her, Boy, ever again," a high pitched voice, annoying and chilling. A man considered the one that lay limply in the tank, white lab coat clean as compared to his greasy features. **_

_**The sounds of gurgling water, air rising to the top of the tube, red eyes opened slowly, painfully slow. Those red orbs blinked, once, twice, thrice, and then the heart monitors, on of the many things attached to the helpless man's body, began to bleep in urgency as panic set in.**_

_**"Ssh, Vincent, you are safe…for now."**_

_**Red eyes whipped around at their surroundings; lead heavy limbs thrashed as best they could in the tube, bubbles obscuring him from view both from movement and from his screams for release. **_

_**The man merely shook his head and watched, waiting for the other to calm down. And calm down he did, all too suddenly for comfort. **_

_**"She saved you, Turk…I wonder why. She was always too kind for her own good. She **believed** in people, that there was always **good** in people's **hearts**. She couldn't bear to face the truth. But you and I know it well, Vincent. We have no hearts, do we, My Little Monster?"**_

_…My Little Monster…_

_Hmp. How fitting._

_**"Lets see how that serum I gave you worked, Valentine," Hojo said, touching a few keys at the module near the tank. A new liquid entered, dark and thick, and like oil in the Mako.**_

_**It took a few minutes for the oil to spread through the tank into a thinner film, tainting the blue-green color. That's when Vincent's body went whipcord tight. Every muscle was visible under his skin as it constricted, a defense mechanism. **_

_**Vincent tried to speak, to scream, to do anything but all he could manage was to open his mouth for a noiseless scream. His red eyes rolled into the back of his head.**_

_Oh God, there is a voice in my head. No…more than one. So many!_

_**A roar, a hiss of delight, a grunt, and a dark cackle, demented and sickenly amused with his panic. And then…**_

_"Let Mother make it all better, My Little Valentine, My Son."_

_** He would never escape.**_

* * *

That's all ya get for now, folks! I'll try to update again soon!

REVIEWS ARE LOVED! They inspire me and that'll make me update that much faster! Please feel free to send me suggestions and constructive criticism!

-Spazzy

PS: Three Things to touch upon before I go:

_I didn't spell check this. Just finished with a LONG party and I'm tired._

_The next chapter'll be centered around Vincent thinking to himself and Turk Vincent coping with his new life in the bar and new time period. (Should be fun)_

_I really am hardcore about sticking to the facts when I write a fanfic. I researched what happened, calculated his real age and more. I even went to Wikipedia and looked for where he really got shot. I don't know if he really has JENOVA cells. I'm looking into it but either which way…now he does, I need it for my plot._

* * *

**EDIT: Fixing the layout so that it is more organized. Found out that FanFic took out all my time breaks so I thought I would fix'em. Hope this doesn't confuse anyone.**


	5. Wake Up Call

Chapter 5: Wake Up Call

"Hey Cloud, what's this?" Yuffie finally found her voice, curiosity overcoming grief and disgust. She passed him a somewhat large sheet of thin paper.

Cloud took the paper gently; making sure it was completely unfolded before scanning it with Mako blue eyes. He paused, his grip shaking, "I think…its construction plans."

"For a building?" Nanaki asked softly.

"No."

"A ship?" Cid asked hopefully.

"No."

"Cloud?" Tifa didn't know if she wanted to find out.

He set the paper down for all to see.

They all stared at it, each letting the contraption and its meaning sink in.

"Has anyone ever noticed it?" Cloud asked, barely able to voice what everyone wanted to know.

Cid shook his head, "The Vamp wears too much ---- clothing to tell."

"I thought as much."

* * *

He groaned into his pillow, eyes unwilling to open despite the fact that the local alarm clock kept shouting for him to do so. He didn't care what people thought; he was not a morning person. Blindly thrashing his hand to stop the alarm's persistent wail he tried to further bury his face into the warmth of his pillow. When he succeeded he brought the now cold hand back into the warmth of his curled body and blanket. 

He was about to gather his motivation in order to get up and go to work when a thought struck him.

_Wait, I don't work for ShinRa here. Guess I don't have work to get up for work…_

He didn't know if it made him want to smile or not. On one hand, he had no reason to get up from the comfort of his bed but on the other he had nothing now. Everything was gone, stripped from him in a matter of seconds.

_Guess I don't have to take that lame job in Nibelheim now either…_

He could be happy about that.

Moments passed.

_Shit, I'm most defiantly awake now. How depressing._

_…Now what?_

He got up onto his forearms and knees, the blanket drifting over him and then he moved backwards, legs unmoving, arching his back into a delicate curve before pushing back into the bed, the curve turning inwards into the bed before stretching back into a laying position having received delicious pops from his bones.

_I never get tired of that._

He let loose a defeated sigh. Going back to sleep simply wasn't an option anymore. He yanked back the sheets and swung his legs around to the side of the bed, getting to his feet, he stretched again. Bringing his creamy skinned arms up above his head he stretched the muscles of his torso. Every muscle stretched beautifully and he felt the blood rush to meet his sleepy limbs and muscles. Getting to his tiptoes he stretched his legs, eyes closed in pleasure. Letting his body relax he feel back onto his heels again and made his way to the bathroom in his room. After doing his morning routine he wiped the mirror clean of all mist and looked at his visage.

For a moment he thought he had long black hair and Mako kissed eyes but only for a moment. Then he had short hair again, wet short shower ridden hair. He sighed and turn on the tap water, letting it pool into his hands and splashed it against the awakening flesh of his face. He didn't want to think about…his other self.

When he was done and refreshed he walked out of the bathroom clad in a towel around his waist. Looking for his clothing he had set on a chair he found them gone. For a moment he was puzzled until he remembered what Tifa had told him last night.

_"I'm going to wash you clothing, Vince. I'll set an outfit out for you in the first drawer of the dresser, got it?"_

He somewhat dreaded opening the dresser as he made his way to it. Girls were known to be unpredictable creatures. He hoped there wasn't something awkward within it like a dog costume or something. He remembered overhearing the group calling anyone with ShinRa dogs.

His heart was pounding in his chest as he opened the drawer and sighed in relief as he pulled out what she laid within for him. A note was next to the clothing with elegant writing scrawled across its surface.

_Hey Vince,_

Its hard for us to talk between you and our Vincent so get used to 'Vince' cause Vincent won't let us call him that. Here is your clothing. In case you were wondering, the pants are Barret's. We would've given you Cid's or Cloud's but Barret is closest to your height. I don't think you want to walk around in high-waters. However, he is five inches taller than you and…well…I bet you already know about the difference in waist size. We left a belt for you for that. We would've given you something of Vincent's but he doesn't have any spares here. The shirt belongs to Cid since he has most of his clothes here on the ship. So the shirt may smell like smoke, sorry! It'll probably be big on you as well. We decided to give you a pair of boxers we were going to give Cloud. They're new so no worries. They should fit fine. We just dropped Barret off so he could baby-sit the kids and get back to work. You were still asleep so we didn't bother you. At the next stop we'll get you more clothing. Come down when you're ready.

-Tifa

He put the note down on the dresser and picked up the pants, holding them high so he could look at what he was dealing with. Lets just say he could clone himself five times, fit every one of his clones along with himself in there, invite some friends and have a party in these pants. He sighed in defeat, put down the pants and then looked at the shirt. The second the shirt moved he wrinkled his nose. It smelt like smoke, indeed! He nearly gagged. This would be a closer fit than the pants but he could probably still dance around in it with one other person. Dropping the shirt and grabbing the boxers, which appeared to be dark blue and his size, _thank God,_ he released his towel and tugged them on.

They fit, a bit loose around the waist and short at the leg but they would do. Grabbing the pants next and pulled them on. They appeared to be a comfortable pair of black slacks made for hanging out around the house. He buttoned them and zipped them and let go to see if they would stay on his waist…nope. On the floor they went. As quickly as they had gone up they were down at his ankles again. He sighed and grabbed the black leather belt on the dresser. Pulling the slacks up again he slipped the belt around his waist and tugged it as tight as it would comfortably go. Then he examined his work. The pants were bunched in random places around the belt where the extra fabric was pinned between the belt and his waist. He sighed and looked down. The pants made him look like a kid in adults clothing. His bare feet were out of sight and he was practically drowning in the baggy pants.

Grabbing the shirt next he brought it to the bathroom and looked in the cabinets and _eureka_! There, under the sink, was a can of aerosol, probably stashed there in case of…bathroom emergencies. He held the shirt at arms length with one hand and let the spray do it work. He stood like that for a while until the smoke was drowned out by the refreshing smell of…he looked at the can.

_Vanilla Cookies?_

He shrugged, _better than smoke._

Tugging on the shirt and putting the can back he looked at the mirror again. Like a kid in adults clothing, indeed!

_I'm so glad the guys at work can't see this…_

_…Now what?_

That's when he realized that for one reason or another the group had set some of Vincent's presents in his room. One stood out more than the others.

He read the label of the little item curiously.

_MePod?_

A note was attached, _already downloaded songs for you since you don't have a computer or any kind of musical device to our knowledge._

He blinked, a slow small creeping onto his face.

He was always too curious for his own good.

* * *

_Red Mako kissed eyes opened wide as he suddenly lunged forwards. Small cherry pink petals drifted around him, drawn up from the ground from his sudden movement. He blinked, **Cherry Blossoms? **_

But they were coming out of the ground…didn't they grow on trees? Not only that but the pink, almost snow like field of flowers, was endless, stretching out in all directions.

_**Where am I?**_

_He looked at the flowers beneath him. They were truly beautiful. Cloud mentioned that when he saw Aeris she was always in a field of her favorite flowers. Maybe…this was Lucrecia's flower?_

_He brought his left hand up to absentmindedly drift through his hair. He remembered that his left hand was made of metal but a little too late. Expecting to feel pointed fingers to dig into his scalp he blinked in surprise. **Flesh**…_

Bringing his hand down to eye level he looked at his arm. A human arm very much similar to his right. He flexed the appendage, wondering if this was all a cruel joke.

He dragged his hands over the leather of his shirt, feeling for the grooves of the leather contraption beneath them, nothing.

_**Does that mean…**_

_He let the barriers around his mind fall for a fraction of a second, as if testing the water of a pool._

_…Nothing…No voices came to meet him. Not the snarling of his demons, not the snide remarks of Chaos, not even the cooing of the one called 'Mother'._

_He let a smile drift across his features, or at least the ghost of a smile. He closed his eyes._

_"You're here!"_

_Red eyes went wide and he found himself face to face with **her.**_

_"Lu…Lucrecia!" Vincent managed to whisper in shock._

_She smiled, the skin around her eyes crinkling with amusement. She tilted her head in the way that made his heart go crazy, letting a few stray strands of hair caress her cheek._

_"I was beginning to wonder if you would ever come, Vincent, you lazy bum!" she said teasingly._

_He blinked again and breathed slowly, "Am I dead?"_

_"No, silly!"_

_"Then…why?" Vincent asked in confusion._

_Lucrecia's smile slowly faded, pain began to flood into her warm chocolate eyes, her voice was soft, "I was worried…you're friends aren't getting very far and there isn't much time."_

_"Lucrecia, what are you talking about?"_

_Lucrecia brought her hand up to Vincent's cheek and caressed it gently. He subconsciously leaned into her touch, savoring the feel of her skin on his and he closed his eyes. She smiled._

_"I should have known it wouldn't be so easy…we should have known."_

_He opened his eyes, "Lucrecia?"_

_She shook her head sadly, "Chaos is gone but Hojo won't let your pain end that easily. He knew way back then. Somehow he knew."_

_Vincent blinked, "I don't understand…"_

_"Chaos served as a counterbalance, Vincent…Ahh!" she screamed suddenly, chocolate eyes wide in pain and fear as she clutched her heart._

_Vincent shot forward to steady her, grabbing her upper arms gently and drawing her to him, letting her rest in his lap as she clutched his chest, head against his shoulder. He looked down to her shivering form, "Lucrecia! What's wrong?"_

_As suddenly as it had started it stopped. He breathed slowly, letting the panic leave as he watched her, unaware of the Sakura Blossoms slowly wilting around them._

_She looked up at him with cold eyes. Suddenly he couldn't move. Those eyes…they weren't chocolate any more. _

_Those eyes glowed with pink malice, kissed with Mako. _

_"What's wrong, Vincent?" came an all too familiar voice. A smirk twisted her beautiful features and he held back a gag of revulsion. _

_'Lucrecia' began to slink closer to his face, eyes never leaving his as though a predator playing with its cornered prey._

_"I never could grasp you, Vincent. I clutched Sephiroth's strings easily. I took Hojo and that foolish boy, Cloud too. But you…I never could get you, Vincent," she whispered to him, now eyelevel with him. Talking of them as if they were playthings to collect and trade._

_Vincent was faintly aware of what her touches were doing. Her hand grazed his and claws began to come forth where nails once were. Fingertips dragged teasingly over his arms and the muscles began to rip and reform, growing whipcord tight. Her nose nuzzled his jaw line up to his ear, the ear's shape slowly becoming pointed. Skin turned ashen. She brought her hands up to cradle his face lovingly, unbuckling the straps to the upper part of his cloak in the process. He couldn't find the strength to move, she was giving it to him and yet she was draining it from him. She pressed her thumbs to his eyes and he obligingly closed them. Pressing her thumbs to them gently and letting them trace downwards he opened his eyes, now glowing bright gold. _

_She smiled, "You are so beautiful, Vincent. Why do you hide your beauty behind a mortal shell?"_

_He clenched his jaw and hissed between his teeth, "Chaos is dead."_

_She nodded sadly, spitting out her words with venom, "Yes, he has returned to your wonderful Life Stream. But he was simply a spirit, Vincent. This is your true form, a gift he left for you to continue to use."_

_His throat closed, **Chaos left his…powers behind?**_

_She smiled; her eyes glinted one hand went low, caressing his thigh as the other went under the arm supporting their weight and to his back, dipped under the leather shirt and dragged her fingertips over his shoulder blades lightly. He clenched his jaw tighter, closing his eyes tight and trying to avoid screaming as the muscles of his back shifted and shuddered. Bringing her other hand back up she began to free him from the confines of his shirt, leaving his cloak for what was to come._

_ The bones of his spine began to lengthen and shift, popping and allowing his ribs to move into a comfortable position. New bones formed and split through the scarred flesh of his shoulder blades. The second bone hit air muscle and sinew began to twist and grow around the bone, followed by flesh and slowly his cloak went with it, forming the armor around the fleshy wings and making them all the more beautiful, tattering them at the edges. He couldn't suppress a scream as anguish and pain flooded his senses. Throwing his head back he loosened his jaw and let loose a howl of pain, a cross between his voice and a beast's roar._

_"Ssh, ssh, ssh. Its okay, Vincent. It will all be over soon. I'll take away the pain, don't you want that?" she cooed, tempting him with wishes his heart desired._

_She shifted and straddled his waist, drawing her arms around his now bare torso. His head fell limply to her shoulder. He was drained, he wouldn't fight her anymore and they both knew it. She smirked, that's exactly what she wanted._

_She ducked under his lean and brushed her lips against his, feeling fangs grow beneath their lip's touch. She heard the fabric of his headband hiss with movement as it became tatters and jagged, twisting lower and wrapping around his forehead, lacing over and under one eye, twisting to form with his hair. Raven tresses began to rise, twisting into spiky wild locks._

_He would have resisted, should have resisted, but she had completely drained him of strength somehow. He couldn't move and it seemed to take everything just to blink and breath at the same time. He watched her with a heavy lidded gaze as she drew away and lowered her head to his collarbone. The only thing keeping him upright now was her arms twisted around his back. He was in her grasp like a boneless doll, his weight sagging against her embrace._

_She nibbled at the exposed collarbone lustfully, her eyes looking upwards to his. She murmured softly, "I knew you would taste good, Vincent. Oh how I have waited to have you. I've longed for the chance to find out what you're like. I've wondered ever since he first took you, My Little Monster. The loss of Chaos was sad but…"_

_She came up to be eye level with him, trailing kisses up his neck as she did so, her voice with thick with hunger, "Chaos was all that stood in the way of me having you. Now that his presence cannot regulate my cells they are growing, Vincent, and now that they are my control is strengthening as well."_

_She grinned and his heart fell into the pits of despair._

_"Didn't you wonder, Vincent? You knew he gave you my cells but didn't you wonder why the GeoStigma didn't affect you? I was just lucky that you were on that aircraft when the rain came and that you didn't decided to go swimming."_

_**His illness…oh God…**_

"That's why I like you, Vincent. So clever, so quick," she smiled, watching as he figured out what was happening.

_"Now all I need to do is seal the deal, My Monster, My Love."_

_She drew close to his neck but he found the energy to tuck his chin._

_She growled and suddenly he found out just what she talking about. He could feel her cells stir in response as words flooded not his ears but his mind. **Tilt your head up and to the side, My Love. Relax.**_

_Much to his horror his body responded all too easily. Titling his head back and stretching to the right, he held his neck taunt for her to see. She licked the tender flesh of the nape of his neck, kissing and teasing the flesh as she did so. He felt fangs brush his heated skin but then they drew back._

_She screeched, "No!"_

_He smiled with relief as he felt control come back to him. Reality called to him and he grasped for it with pleasure. He was waking up…_

* * *

He was faintly aware of hands at his shoulders and his body shaking as he awoke. 

"Vincent! Vincent, oh God, WAKE UP!" Cloud yelled, shaking him vigorously.

Vincent slowly open his heavy eyelids to gaze at the startled and worried blue-eyed man, "Cloud?" _…Just a nightmare?_

Cloud stopped and let loose a sigh of relied, collapsing back into the chair beside the bed, "You scared me, Vincent! I thought you said Chaos was gone."

Dread filled Vincent's heart.

"He is…"

They merely sat there in silence, letting each other's words sink in.

**_"You should have known, you insolent boy, that if Chaos didn't kill you I would still find a way," _**Hojo's words echoed over and over again in his mind.

* * *

YAY! Another chapter done! And relatively quick too! –Ish proud- Sorry, I didn't intend this chapter to be so centered on Vincent's dream but…it did. Good news is that the next chapter is going to have Vincent, the MePod and Yuffie! I figured out what I'm doing for the pairing and I think he is just going to be flirtatious with all the girls but nothing serious. I might introduce Rufus and the Turks in the next one too! 

REVIEWS ARE LOVED!

_**MUCH LOVE TO MY SUPPORTERS!**_

…I might need to raise the rating, depends on what I decide to do with Vincent and JENOVA.

-Spazzy


	6. Dancing and Grieving

Chapter 6: Dancing and Grieving

"He is..."

They took turns. Cloud explained to Vincent what happened, how he entered the room whilst they took a break from their meeting and how he found Vincent convulsing in his bed, changing into…Chaos.

Vincent told Cloud how JENOVA visited him, how she forced his body change into the shape that Chaos left behind.

"Well, at least Chaos won't be in control if you do revert to his form, right?" Cloud asked hopefully, trying to cheer up his friend.

"It's not that simple, Cloud. Were you not listening?" Vincent growled though the remark was barely over a whisper.

"It was just a dream though…right?"

"I don't think so…Cloud," Vincent said softly, looking to him with his endless red eyes, "If what JENOVA said is true…Chaos balanced and regulated the JENOVA cells within me, keeping them in control and regulating them into small amounts. Now that he is gone…her cells are growing rapidly…"

Cloud's eyes widen, "You don't think…you have…"

"The Planet Scar Syndrome, _Seikon Shōkōgun_…"

Cloud finished the statement for his comrade, "Geostigma…"

* * *

When everyone decided to finally take a break from their meeting they all agreed to come back in two hours time. Tifa tried to keep her mind off of all the horrible things she had just witnessed and was failing miserably. Currently she found herself walking through the abandoned halls, hoping for a distraction of any kind to help her control the pain.

That's when she came upon a partially opened door. The light came through the crack in the door and she could hear something behind it…music?

The voice was quite soothing to listen and whomever the voice belonged to could sing as well as most famous singers. She edged closer to the door to glance inside and see who was behind it. She was amazed to see a certain short haired Turk dancing around the room with his eyes closed, a small device strapped to the pants that were far to big for him and white cords dangling from the earplugs at his ears.

She listened as he moved with the music.

"I can't escape this hell, so many times I've tried! But still I'm caged inside, somebody get me through this nightmare! I can't control myself!" the Turk sang with the music, throwing his head with it, moving his body perfectly with the beat despite the obviously comical look his clothing gave him.

"So what if you can see the darkest side of me? No one will ever change this animal I have become! Help me believe its not the real me! Somebody help me tame this animal! This animal! This animal!"

She continued to listen and watch as the oblivious Turk continued. She rolled the words over in her head, smiling somewhat forlornly when she realized just how similar it was to Vincent. When he finished with his song she opened the door, tapping the wood lightly with her knuckles as she entered, giggling and smiling.

Her giggling increased when she took in the startled expression Vince gave her, wide eyes and cheeks flushed, "Miss Tifa! I didn't…I didn't know you were out there," he smiled, embarrassed, rubbing the back of his neck.

She shook her head, "I'm glad you didn't, I bet you would've stopped if you knew."

"Better than making a fool of myself."

"You weren't making a fool of yourself, Vince! You have a wonderful voice! You get bonus points for dancing in those giant pants just as well."

He blinked and looked down at his pants before letting out a carefree laugh, "Thanks."

Tifa smiled back but inside her heart ached furiously.

_This is how Vincent used to be…before Nibelheim…before Hojo…before Lucrecia…before Chaos. Oh God! I wish Hojo were still alive so I could kill him again for what he did! He used to be so…_

She blinked as the Turk startled her out of her thoughts. She didn't remember him being this close. He was inches from her and waving his hand in front of her face, "Whoa, I think I lost you there for a minute. You okay?"

Tifa blinked, "Yeah, why?"

Vince frowned slightly, the expression quite cute on his young face, his warm wine hues showing how eager he was to help in anyway he could, "You were clenching your fists and frowning," he sighed softly, bringing a hand up to wipe at the tears forming in her eyes, "And you were crying. Did I do something to upset you, Miss Tifa?"

Tifa's throat closed tight with sorrow. _Why did this have to happen to you, Vincent! What did you do to deserve what happened to you? I don't understand!_

She whispered, "I'm fine."

"I always found dancing helps me when I'm down," He took one of the two earplugs from his ears, holding it out for her, "Do you want to?"

She blinked and nodded, "That…would be nice."

She grabbed the earplug, placing it in the designated ear and waited. She watched as he pulled the MePod from his belt and began to sift through the songs.

"This one should be nice."

The music began to drift into her ear, soft and sweet. Both uplifting but sad.

"I've listened to each one at least once, I like this one a lot," he whispered to her, "But we'll need to get closer if you want to dance and not lose the earplug."

She nodded, letting him guide her hands into the right places, one on either shoulder. Her hands subconsciously closed around the back of his neck.

"Tell me if this bothers you, Miss Tifa."

She felt his hands graze her skin, one on her hip, another at the small of her back, "I'm fine."

She rested her head on his shoulder, taking in his smell and closing her eyes. She just let everything fall away and enjoyed the moment.

The words started but she found the real voice being drowned out by a better one. Vince was resting his chin on her shoulder, singing better than the composer himself.

"_I'll sing it one last time for you  
Then we really have to go  
You've been the only thing that's right  
In all I've done"_

She smiled as he gently began to lead, allowing her to slowly meld into his steps as they turned in long slow circle. He was warmth and he was comfort and he was there. She smiled, letting the tears slide free. This was what she needed.

"_And I can barely look at you  
But every single time I do  
I know we'll make it anywhere  
Away from here"_

She wondered for a brief moment if this was wrong. But somehow she knew that the Turk wasn't trying to steal her from Cloud. She remembered that he said he had yet to go to Nibelheim, that he hadn't met Miss Lucrecia Crescent yet but…somehow she felt as if his heart was already taken and waiting.

She smiled; he was more like her brother or father now than a friend, making sure she was ready for the next step in life. She was so grateful for it. She never did have a brother…Sephiroth killed her father. She needed this…

"_Light up, light up  
As if you have a choice  
Even if you cannot hear my voice  
I'll be right beside you dear"_

They moved in perfect harmony, each simply grateful for the other's presence, both of their eyes shut. They pictured that they were somewhere else, somewhere better. Somewhere free from the troubles of life.

"_Louder, louder  
And we'll run for our lives  
I can hardly speak I understand  
Why you can't raise your voice to say _

_To think I might not see those eyes  
Makes it so hard not to cry  
And as we said our long goodbyes  
I nearly did"_

He was giving her the strength she needed. She didn't know how it was possible. Just how long had they known each other? A few days tops and now he was dancing with her as though she an important part of his life. Suddenly it felt like rain...

"_Light up, light up  
As if you have a choice  
Even if you cannot hear my voice  
I'll be right beside you dear" _

Yeah, rain…Rain would fit this moment perfectly. Wherever they were within their hearts as they danced together they were in the rain. Tifa pictured it perfectly. It was her wedding day now. She was with him, dancing in the summer rain but she wasn't sad about the weather. They wanted a rainy wedding, her and Cloud. The rain made her all the more beautiful. Her hair was tied high in a beautiful design, stray strand of dripping tresses wisped around her face, white flower blossom tugged in here and there. Her dress glowed white in the rainstorm, holding tight to her body in a way that made her look like a goddess in the rain.

_  
"Have heart my dear  
We're bound to be afraid  
Even if it's just for a few days  
Makin' up for all that's less"_

She imagined him clad in a black tuxedo, his neatly trimmed hair glistening perfectly, clinging cutely to his face. For a moment she could have sworn his hair was long and black. For a moment he wasn't a Turk but he was Vincent. Black suit, red satin vest, white dress shirt, black slacks, long black messy eyes and wild fire eyes. He was the man she chose to dance with as her father, giving her away to Cloud. And he smiled. She must've been dreaming and dancing at the same time because in her dream she asked him if everything was going to be okay now and his smile turned warmer than ever beforeVincent never smiled but here he was and his smile...was _happy and warm._

"Yeah, everything is going to be okay now, Tifa."

"_Light up, light up  
As if you have a choice  
Even if you cannot hear my voice  
I'll be right beside you dear"_

And then it was over, the music was slowing down and they were beginning to stop. But she didn't move away from him when they did. She kept her head buried in his shoulder and drew a shaky breath.

She felt better. She felt worse.

She didn't know.

"Is everything going to be okay now, Vincent?"

Vince drew her at arm length, looking at her glossy tear stricken eyes and he smiled in that way that made it feel like everything was going to work out right in the end. She could tell then what his beliefs were. It was clear in his eyes.

If you work hard and put your heart into what you do you'll be rewarded. If you're a good soul good things will happen. Justice. His eyes screamed justice, equality and peace despite the fact he was a Turk. He was _happy._

It was a rare look here in this time. Was it really so different back when he grew up?

He gently traced a stray hair back behind her ear and wiped away her tears, "Yes, Tifa. Everything is going to be okay now."

But heart screamed one thing over and over.

As much as she wanted to believe him she couldn't ignore the doubt.

_The calm before the storm._

* * *

**Sorry, another short chapter. This weekend is pretty long since we're snowed in for the day. I didn't have anything better to do so I decided to sit down and write some more. I don't know when the next update will be but hopefully sometime this week.**

**I don't know about you guys but I like the Tifa and Turk Vinnie scene. I kind see him as her older brother or a father figure or something. I don't know.**

**Er…yeah…so**

_**REVIEW!!!! **_

_**I LUV'ITH MY SUPPORTERS!!!**_

_-Spazzy_

_PS The songs in this Fic DO NOT BELONG TO ME:_

_Three Days Grace - Animal_

_Snow Patrol- Run _


	7. Life is Fickle

Chapter 7: Life is Fickle

Vince sat on the railing of the aircraft with practiced ease. His body was honed and crafted to literally be a weapon; balance naturally came with the talent. The wind swept like fingers through his short raven tresses, blowing them back in a loving caress. He closed his eyes and sighed. This felt more like a vacation than a different time.

Any other person wouldn't jumped out of their skin when they realized that at one moment they were alone and the next there was a red eyed man beside you. Vince did not.

"Shouldn't you be resting?"

"I miss the fresh air."

Vince smiled, "I know."

Vincent nearly smiled, "I thought as much."

Vince glanced over to his other self, clad in only black sweats and a black t-shirt. They both were missing the outfits they usually wore. If the circumstances weren't so depressing they would've laughed.

They sat there together, Vince sitting on the top rail of the ship, Vincent standing, hunched over the rail, elbows leaning against it. If anyone were simply passing by the two would be mistaken as brothers spending quality time together.

"I want to ask you so many questions…I know you won't answer them though."

Vincent allowed amusement to flicker across his pale sickly features. For a man who couldn't raise himself from his bed a day ago, he looked a lot better now.

"Depends on the question."

The Turk raised an eyebrow in question and curiosity.

Vince smirked, "Alright then, how 'bout why are you able to walk around if you couldn't even get out of bed yesterday?"

Vincent rolled the question over in his mind, considering if he should tell or not. It was a question he even asked himself. He spoke what he thought, "I have theories but to be honest…I don't know."

Yes, he had his theories. Each one ended in Chaos or JENOVA. He didn't like either one so he would wait until the answers were clear.

"How can you not know?"

Vincent chuckled softly at the confused expression on the younger's face, "I simply do not know. I cannot state it in any other way."

Vince held back a scowl and looked at the sky again. They had shifted places after being on the airship for so long. It was no longer snowing here. Here it was somewhere in the summer, probably on the opposite side of the planet from their last port. They had landed sometime ago.

After another pause Vincent looked to his other self, "That's the end of my interrogation?"

Vince smiled, "I'm trying to think of questions you won't mind answering."

"Hmm."

"Alright, how about…your occupation now?"

Vincent looked back to the warm evening sky, orange and pink and red, "I have none at the moment. The gil that we spilt between us after the Meteor, Reunion and Deep Ground incidents was more than enough to tide me over. Though a wanderer doesn't exactly need much."

"Really? Well…I don't know what happened to you…us…but if things ended up differently how do you think our life would be?"

Vincent chuckled bitterly, "I am not one who is able to read into what was, what will be and what could have been but I would like to believe I would have made her happy. There would have been no need to save the planet…"

Vince looked to his older self in confusion before he looked back to the sky, "I lied before…when I said that I didn't meet Doctor Lucrecia Crescent yet."

Vincent's tone was warm and understanding but laced with something deeper… "I know."

"Is she the one you were talking of?"

"You'll have to find out for yourself," Vincent smiled at his pouting younger version.

"And if I can't get back?"

"You should have realized by now that if it were impossible to send you back I would be dead by now and there would be drastic changes in the world."

"Oh."

"Indeed."

"Vincent…"

Vincent gazed to his younger self and saw what lay deep beneath the skin, straight to his soul. He was troubled. Vincent knew the question before it was even voiced but he waited to see if the Turk had worked up the courage to face that truth yet or not.

"What are we?"

Vincent paused, savoring his explanation and looking for flaws as he tried to figure out how he would explain it.

"I once was told that a man who kills another man is a murderer, a man who kills a few is an assassin, a man who kills many is a monster, a man who kills in war is a hero and finally a man who kills them all…is a God."

"Is that what Yuffie meant then?" Vince asked softly as he took in the words told to him.

"What did she say?"

"She told me…"

* * *

"_You're Yuffie, right?" a voice came from behind, the presence soundless and screamed Vincent. Yuffie spun on her heel to give the gunslinger her best glare when she yelped in surprise. She should have known really. They felt different. When she was around Vincent she could literally feel his pain and his hurt and all that he bottled away. But with the other Vincent…_

_Vince was different. He was just as quiet and polite but he was different. When she was around Vince she could tell that he was someone who cherished his friends and the good moments in life. Someone who had seen things most men can't handle and someone who has seen things many men never get the privilege to see. The feeling that rolled off him was not pain or anger but happiness and understanding and a lively content feeling. He was a young man enjoying life as well as he could, considering what he was. It made her wonder just what caused such a drastic change in the man, to make his aura go from lively to dark._

"_Damn it! Vince, don't sneak up on me!" Yuffie screeched, trying to steady her breathing and heart rate, one hand clutching the wall, the other clutching her heart._

_A soft laugh caressed her ear and she blinked, looking up to catch the Turk's expression. For a second she didn't see the shorthaired Turk but a man in a long red cloak, smiling from behind the cowl of his red clothing. But then the image was gone and the lively young man clad in clothing that didn't fit him returned. She didn't know what to make of it._

"_What's so funny, jerk!"_

"_I thought you said you were a ninja, Miss Kisaragi. Forgive me for startling you from…" Vince trailed off, letting her know that he was curious as to what she was doing._

_Yuffie grabbed a mint from her back pocket, flipped it into her mouth and smiled weakly, "Barfing my brains out."_

…

_She nearly collapsed into a laughing fit on the floor as she looked at his expression. His nose was wrinkled in disgust, his eyes scrunched and brows furrowed, sticking his tongue out to prove his distaste in the subject, taking a step back._

_He blinked, watching her laugh and then began to laugh as well._

"_You asked," Yuffie giggled._

"_Indeed, it would seem that I did, Miss Kisaragi," Vince agreed._

_They stood in silence for a moment before Yuffie broke the silence, "Will you do me a favor, Turkey?"_

_Vince held back an amused look; he was used to the name by now, and looked down at her. His amusement faded as he took in her shadowed face, hair keeping her eyes out of sight._

"_Miss Kisaragi?"_

"_Its just…I don't think I can go to him, not alone at least."_

"_To who?" Vince asked but he already knew the answer._

"_To Vincent."_

_Vince looked at her a moment longer, letting realization sink in but he understood. He nodded and put a hand on her shoulder, "I can do that."_

_Yuffie looked up at him with large gray eyes, steely and filled with mixed emotions. She nodded, "Thanks."_

_He smiled back, both comforting and warm. Taking his hand off her shoulder and holding it out for her he spoke encouragingly, "I'll be by your side if you lose sight of the strength you need, Miss Kisaragi."_

_And so she grabbed his hand. Together they walked through the halls of the aircraft towards the room he resided in. Death seemed to hang from the ceiling and drip from the walls. The air seemed to grow thicker to Yuffie and she began to struggle as her throat began to constrict. The halls here seemed darker and if her eyes weren't opened she would imagine that she was drowning here in this place. A tight and warming squeeze at her hand let her know that they were there._

_Vince stopped at the doorway and let go of Yuffie's hand. Yuffie glanced up to her companion before looking at the door before her. She put one hand on the door but she couldn't seem to push it any further. Vince pressed his back to the wall beside the door, leaning against it and tucking his chin to his chest, closing his eyes and folding his arms over his chest. _

_**So much like him…**_

_Vince opened his eyes as he heard her whisper softly, "You two…are so alike, you know?"_

_Vince glanced to her out of the corner of his eye but he said nothing._

"_Well, there are some differences. I used to call Vincent names. Vinnie, Vin, Tall Dark and Scowling, Vamp, among other things. He would always scold me for it but I could tell it was half hearted. You don't care about nicknames…do you, Vince?"_

"_No."_

"_It kind of hurts. I never thought about it until now…how he felt when he was called by names he didn't like…Vincent, can I ask you something?"_

"_Sure."_

_Yuffie looked up to him, her hand still on the unopened door, "Don't call me Miss Kisaragi…"_

_Vince blinked and looked at Yuffie, "I'm sorry if I have offended you, Miss…Yuffie. I'm sorry if I offended you, Yuffie."_

_Yuffie let loose a smile but it was a ghost of her normal lively smiles, "No problem, Vince."_

_Yuffie's muscles clenched as she prepared to enter the room but her body didn't move. She stood that way for a while until her voice broke free again, "You won't leave, will you, Vince?"_

_Vince couldn't tell if she was truly asking him or was simply asking him a question meant for his other self. He answered regardless, "I don't know about the future, Yuffie. But for now…I'm here. I won't leave, not until your ready to let me go, okay?"_

_Yuffie smiled but he could see the tears lining her eyes, "I'll hold you up to that one."_

_And then she pushed open the door and walked into the room. The door began to close of its own accord but it didn't have enough momentum to completely close. Vincent waited, eyes closed and patience endless. _

_It had been a good ten minutes until she finally heard Yuffie speak._

"_Vince promised me that he wouldn't leave until I was ready…does that mean the promise is yours to keep as well? You two are the same right?" her voice was choked; he could tell that she was in pain. He could almost smell the tears in the air. He grimaced, this hurt to listen to. Now he knew why she asked him that. He smiled, a ghost of a smile, **I wonder if he knows.**_

_There was a silence; the only things heard being her unsteady breathing, his raspy gasps of air, and the rustle of clothes, someone moved, probably Yuffie._

_**He won't answer you…**_

"_I think you two are the same…because then it proves my point. Remember, Vincent? That argument we had…I don't even remember how it started now. But you told me you were a monster, Vincent…"_

_Silence._

"_But…you can't be a monster because he isn't a monster, Vincent. And you two are the same. I just know it! You aren't a monster, Vincent!"_

_Vince finally opened his eyes._

_Was that what Vincent was hiding from him?_

_**What truly makes…a monster?**_

* * *

Vincent listened to his younger self talk without interrupting. _Yuffie…_

"Is that what you mean?" Vince asked softly.

Vincent hung his head, letting his hair drift into his eyes as the wind began to die down, "This isn't an easy question you ask me…"

Vince didn't say anything, merely looked to his other self from the corner of his eyes.

"I would say that we were both monsters and maybe that's true but…I think in comparison. You are a human. I am a monster."

"My hands are stained as well, if you do so remember," Vince whispered gently.

Vincent let out a bitter laugh, "Yes, I remember all too well. But there is a line between a job and a murder. You were doing what was needed to be done. You didn't do it for joy or outside of work."

"That doesn't justify it."

"No, I never said it justified it. But that doesn't make you a monster. I remember all too well what you are going through. You hide it easily but I can see the turmoil in your soul."

Vince's eyes widened.

"They say humans have wings that no one can see. The feathers, at birth are pure and white. As life goes on they change according to how you live. You still have humanity in you, I can still see white in your wings, quit while you still can salvage what makes you human, kid, quit before your slightly tainted wings turn black." Vincent said softly as he straightened and turned on heel to leave.

Vince's voice finally caught him as he was halfway to the door, "You never told me…"

"What?" Vincent asked, stopped but not bothering to turn around. Vince didn't turn around either.

"You said that a man who kills another man is a murderer, a man who kills a few is an assassin, a man who kills many is a monster, a man who kills in war is a hero and finally a man who kills them all is a God. So where does that put you?" Vince asked softly, hesitation obvious in his tone.

Vincent considered his options but decided to throw caution to the wind just this once. His voice was cold and emotionless, inside his voice was not, "Have you ever heard the saying, 'Reach for the Moon, fore even if you miss you shall fall into the embrace of stars?"

"I have."

Vincent chuckled softly, a bitter, hollow and sorrowful sound, "I reached for the Moon and I missed. I fell to the stars but I was forsaken. I fell towards the planet, but the fall burnt my wings to cinders, black and forever damaged. I walk the earth forever now and I walk as a monster among humans. That is what I mean."

Vince merely continued to look into the evening sky, listening as his footsteps retreated and took in a shaky breath. Yeah, he knew that saying. His…no, **their **Mother told them that when they were little. Her voice rang true in his ears.

"_All of us have wings, Vinnie. What makes us human is our hearts and our hearts are what make us fly. But when one misses the Moon and the stars drift out from beneath them they fall. That means that at some point in their life something scarred their hearts, my Son. So their hearts begin to die away from the pain and the betrayal and the sorrow. White feathers turn black and chains wrap around their wings, pinning them into a folded position at their back. They can't fly anymore, Vinnie, because the chains, the burdens their heart holds, keeps them down. Most fall to prey to pain, Vinnie, and become monsters, attacking others to relieve their pain. But some, those who can continue to walk despite the weight of their wings and resist the change into heartless creatures, those who the Life Stream deemed worthy but could not save, continue to walk. They walk about the earth as shadows of men, condemned to never receive the peace of death, to never forget and forever carry the weight of their past."_

"_How can we save them, Mother?" a childish voice asked, throat closing, feeling the pain of all those who had fallen._

"_Only those pure of heart can help them, Vinnie. Pure hearted people are the only ones who can touch the chains, who can wrap fingers around them and pull the chains away. After that, it is up to the being if they want to try and fly again or not."_

"_It sounds so impossible, Mother."_

"_Nothing is impossible, Vinnie," she pointed to his heart, "You just have to believe with all your heart."_

"_All my heart?" Vincent asked innocently, placing a hand over his heart._

"_Yes, all your heart," she smiled, placing her own hand over his._

Vince placed a hand over his heart, feeling the warmth of his Mother's hand despite the years between that time and the present, "I think it's possible then, Mother. He is surrounded by such hearts, is he not?"

* * *

Vincent entered the ship and began to walk the halls. He could hear the other's voices but he didn't want to follow them. He knew that if he had to look into another pair of pitying eyes he would have to pull out Cerberus and Death Penalty in order to erase the annoyance from his memory, and hopefully everything else.

As he wandered he began to feel his skin crawl and shiver again. Whatever had been the source of his sudden strength was beginning to disperse. He bit back a sound of anger as the air grew thicker and heavier. It was beginning to take more strength to move his legs, not to mention keeping his balance. He staggered over to the wall, bringing a feverish hand to guide him steadily to his room. Black spots began to line his vision, his breath coming out in hesitant gasps.

_I was fine a minute ago. What the hell is wrong with me? If this is the GeoStigma then Cloud went through this too, right? _

He stopped, resting heavily against the wall as he caught his breath. He should have heard the footsteps coming out the hallway behind him sooner but he caught them a second too late. Twisting on his heels and he reached for his gun only to stare down the barrel of another's.

"Tseng," he growled in a raspy breath. He received a nod of acknowledgement but no answer. The gun was not removed from its place between his eyes.

"You don't look so good, Valentine," came another voice as the footsteps rounded the corner.

Vincent's eyes shifted to the man behind Tseng and if possible his growl grew deeper, "ShinRa."

Rufus only smiled his cocky smile and brushed back a lock of golden blonde hair. His bright blue eyes shown as beautifully as Cloud's but Vincent couldn't decide if it was the result of Mako's embrace of old fashioned genetics. Clad in his fancy white suit, Rufus made his way towards the Ex-Turk, not going any closer than just out of arm's reach.

"I thought you would be a bit harder to find, Valentine. Imagine my surprise when I found you at that bar, out in the open. Imagine my further surprise when I found out there is a past version of you running around. You caught my eye when I saw you fight and a quick background check told me you were once under Shinra employment. So theoretically, AVALANCHE has been hiding my employee from me."

Vincent merely glared, which slowly turned into a knowing smirk.

Rufus didn't flinch as he felt a blade at his neck…a rather _large_ and _pointy_blade that belonged to Cloud Strife.

"Drop your weapons and let him go," Cloud growled.

Tseng clicked off the safety, "You kill him and all of you are dead before you can blink."

Cloud and blinked as the sound of a body's descent came from behind him. Elena landed perfectly behind him, one gun pointing at Tifa who was behind her, the other at the back of Cloud's head.

Reno walked up, coming up behind Vincent, grinning and holding a struggling ninja over his shoulder, blindfolded and gagged, "Long time no see."

Cloud growled, "Too soon, I'm afraid."

Barret, Cid and Nanaki came up behind Tifa only to find themselves trapped, Rude blending in behind them and holding a rather powerful machine gun in his hands.

There was silence for a while.

"What do you want, Rufus?" Cloud growled.

"A talk with the Turks you stole from me, Cloud."

"Ex-Turk," Vincent snapped.

Rufus smiled, "We'll see…so where is the other Valentine?"

As if in response there was the sound of footsteps approaching at an impossible speed…

* * *

_Cliffhanger! Fear meh!_

Alright, I got another chapter posted! Woot!

…er…send luv'th to me please?

-Spazzy


	8. ShinRa Troubles

Chapter 8: ShinRa Troubles

The approaching footfalls were then drowned out by the sound of four consecutive gunshots, closely followed by the tap of boots against walls, the clatter of falling weapons and the curses of angry Turks.

"You have two choices. Stand down," came a monotone voice, cold and unfeeling and Turk perfection. After Vince had heard the ruckus he ran as fast as possible. From there adrenaline took over, propelling his feet to run ten times faster, causing his aim to be nothing less than the pinnacle of perfection, allowing his body to flip over the wounded Turks, twist against the walls and land next to Rufus without ever losing the aim he had at the president's head, "Or die."

Tseng instantly dropped his useless bullet riddled hand to his side and used the other to grab for the extra gun at his back until a blade came to rest at his neck, Cloud's voice was easy to pinpoint, "The tables have turned, Turk. Drop the weapon."

Reno had already dropped the struggling ninja, which happened to be flat on her head. He sat crouched on the ground, hand tucked to his chest, gun discarded and Yuffie unconscious beside him.

Elena was in a similar position and Rude was already trying to grab for his own weapon when Cid pointed his spear to his throat.

"Now I understand why they didn't erase your documents after Hojo 'killed' you and reported you missing. You're a very valuable Turk if you can disarm four of my best within half the time it took to trap AVALANCHE. Someone must have hoped that we would recover you in the future," Rufus spoke confidently despite the barrel nuzzling the skin between his eyes, "And to think that now there is two of you."

Vince's eyes, cold and blank, blinked once, and then twice and finally cleared. The adrenaline released its hold on his mind and allowed him to think. His voice was a bit weak, barely over a whisper but still held the snapping jaws of a threat within their words, "You aren't President ShinRa. Who are you?"

"I am the president…or was when we were still in power. I am Rufus ShinRa."

Vince's eyes went wide, "Rufus? No, Rufus is just…wait…"He held back a sigh, memory of his current situation slowly flooding back to him and he shook his head, "Nevermind…"

Rufus eyed him curiously before looking past the barrel of the gun to Vincent Valentine and he smirked, eyes on Vincent but his words made for Cloud, "You'll listen to me if you want my help, Cloud."

"Why do you think we need your help, ShinRa?" Cloud asked coolly, voice calm and even.

"Look for yourself."

That's when everyone began to notice that Vincent could barely stand up right even with the aid of the wall. His face was contorted in pain as his hand clutched for purchase on the wall, finding none he slowly began to slide to his knees, his free arm curled around his rib cage as though holding it would erase the pain. When his knees hit the floor he gasped, head lolling forward, sweaty bangs falling into his face.

"Vincent!" Tifa gasped, the name fluttering past her lips was no more than a whisper and before anyone could register that it was said Tifa was at his side, "Vincent! What's wrong?"

Vincent shivered, his shoulders shaking in convulsive motions as he gasped, hunching further over, "I…can't breathe…" he said in a rush of pain before coughs began to rack his ill body. Blood splattered to the floor, thick and red and mixed with black clumps.

Tifa yelped but didn't move, keeping her hands at his shoulders to steady him. Vincent closed his eyes slowly as blood trickled up from his mouth and down the corners, dripping down his jaw line and chin. Red orbs rolled back into their sockets as Vincent's body gave into the temptation of unconscious bliss and he slumped into Tifa's arms.

"Vincent!"

* * *

The table was large and round. AVALANCHE decided it was more convenient to converse at a round table than the old rectangular one they had before. After managing to whip up a few extra chairs everyone took a seat. Well, almost everyone. 

The seating went as so:

Reno, Elena, Rufus, Tseng, Rude, Tifa, Cid, Vince, Cloud, Nanaki, Barret, and Yuffie.

Cloud enlaced his fingers and brought his elbows upon the table, resting his chin upon his interlocked fingers and let his blue eyes lock with those of Rufus.

"Alright, Rufus. We're listening."

Rufus smiled and leaned back in his chair, "Cloud, as promised, I have brought you the best medical services I know of straight to your doorstep. I shall keep the doctors here and also continue my funding of the WRO under one condition."

"Hm?"

"All I ask is for a moment with the Ex-Turk and the Turk."

Cloud raised an eyebrow, "And if this moment gets you no where?"

Rufus grinned and shrugged, "I tried. You held up your end of the deal, I got my moment. So I hold up mine, regardless of the outcome."

Cloud took a deep breath.

"Sounds like a nice deal, Cloud," Tifa whispered softly.

"A little too nice for ShinRa," Barret spat.

Reno growled, "Shouldn't you be off babysitting' or something, yo?"

Rufus held out a hand to calm Reno just as Yuffie practically jumped on Barret when he suddenly stood up, enraged.

When both parties were calm they continued.

"This isn't my decision, ShinRa," Cloud said softly, his eyes wandering to Vince who was seated calmly beside him, "Vince?"

Vince merely nodded, "I'll give you a moment, Mr. President."

Rufus smiled, "Wonderful-" before he was cut off.

"However, this will only happen after we figure out what is wrong with Vincent and we receive the proper ways of healing him," Vince retorted, eyes respectful but clever. A man who would not be fooled.

Shinra respected that and only made him crave for the Turk's alliance even more.

Rufus nodded, "So it shall be done."

* * *

The doctors were sent in to tend to Vincent the second Rufus exited the conference room. The hallway was to narrow for everyone to fit comfortably outside of Vincent's room so they left four behind to wait, allowing the others to wait in the lounge of the airship. 

Cloud, Vince, Rufus and Tseng stayed behind to linger in the hallways. Tseng tried to persuade his employer to go to the lounge where he could rest but his pleas were disregarded.

"I'll stay here until the storm has passed, Tseng."

And so they did. It felt like hours before one of the doctors emerged from the door.

The doctor looked confused and startled, if not a bit spooked. His voice was hesitant as he spoke, "We…uh…"

Rufus glared at the man for a moment before Cloud cut in.

"Is there something wrong?"

The doctor blinked, looking to Cloud as if only just seeing him and nodded, "Uh…yes, there is a…minor complication."

Vince blinked, "What manner of complication?"

The doctor took a deep breath before continuing, "We have just drained the blood from his lungs. However, when we were stabilizing him and preparing to connect him with the necessary equipment we hit a problem."

"If you're talking about his arm I'll tell you now that it cannot be removed," Cloud warned.

"No, that isn't the problem… I think it will be best if I show you."

Cloud looked to Rufus and Tseng and said, "You two stay here."

They merely nodded.

With that said the doctor ushered the two men into the room, past the busy movements of the others attending to Vincent and leading them straight to the man himself.

Vince's eyes were pained as they fell upon his elder self. Vincent laid in his bed, clad in white sheets, his chest slowly rising and falling, an oxygen mask placed over his face to help him breathe. His skin was ashen, too many shades lighter than normal and they thought he was pale before. Vincent's brow was drawn tight in pain, his hands clutching at the white sheets helplessly.

"What's the problem, doctor?" Cloud asked softly.

"This," he said as he pulled the sheets back from Vincent's chin and releasing them before his waist.

Vince and Cloud looked on at their friend in horror.

The gang once made a bet on exactly what Vincent hid under his leather and cloak. Some of them said he was riddled with scars. Others said that he probably had beautiful and unblemished skin. Yuffie suggested that he was hiding a colony of Chinchillas under that dark red cloak. Cloud himself wondered if Hojo's hand in Vincent was something that left marks behind or not.

The truth was…far more mind-blowing.

**_Just like those plans we found..._**

A puckered scar rested at his breast, another at his gut and a blue glow that resided under the skin of his breast. Beyond that Vincent had skin to match the rest of him. Pale and smooth. The muscles that lay under the skin were easy to pick out, molding the man into a weapon with deadly precision. On his upper left shoulder was not a number, as was Hojo's custom, but a symbol. A silver hollowed out heart was traced into his skin, elegant and beautifully crafted. On either side of the heart were two wings, one under another. The wings on the left side of the heart were beautifully entwined, connecting to the heart and twisting into its silver tracing. One purple and wispy, the other was simply the bone configuration of a wing. On the other side was another pair, entwined like the other. One wing was gray and simple, electricity pulsing through it. The other was red, dragon like and tattered. Through the middle of the heart was a bullet.

**_Galian Beast, Hellmasker, Death Gigas and Chaos. Vincent's heart as it was destroyed through betrayal. How symbolic, Hojo, you must have loved tormenting him, _**Cloud growled.

However, it was not these things that caught the attention of the two men. It was the bones that could easily be seen despite the thick muscle that covered them. It was the unmistakable discolorations of the GeoStigma that covered his ribs, went around to his back and went deep into his chest, spreading at an alarming rate. It was the odd configuration of his bones that were obviously not in the same place as the average man's.

But above all that it was…

It was the black leather straps that worked its way around Vincent's torso, hugging close to his body as though if it let go he would fall apart. The contraption twisted and turned, circling the area around the blue glow in his chest, folding into the spaces between each ill placed rib, elongating the spine, buckles dull with use and pulled tight.

"It appears that he was wearing something under his clothing, a contraption of some sort. We aren't sure of what it is for but we have our theories…" the doctor spoke softly and slowly, "We think that the contraption is used to make sure that his bones move around properly and do not dislocate."

The doctor traced the lines of Vincent's ribs with a finger as he continued, "His bones are not set in the same way a man's are. However, as impossible as it sounds, they must have been altered through force because his bones are constantly trying to shift back into place. We were prepped before we came about his previous condition, which strengthens our theory. However, if we are right then we cannot remove the harness."

"Why?" Cloud finally spoke up after the brief pause, his voice barely able to form around the lump in his throat.

"If we take off his harness we fear that his bones may begin to shift unnaturally. That would not only put more unneeded stress upon his body but it might damage his internal organs in the process. There are countless risks and we can't afford to take them."

"Then what can we do about the monitors?"

"For now we have access to his arm and his mouth and that shall have to do for now. I just thought you should be aware of the reason as to why the other machines cannot be put to use."

Cloud nodded and looked down at his friend again as the doctor began to usher them into the hallway, "We are going to continue now, please wait outside."

They followed blankly, shell shocked of what they just say. Vince leaned against the wall, his eyes staring out into the blank void of the hallway and did not move again, thinking all the while…

**_His wings…maybe harder to heal than I thought, Mother…_**

* * *

The gang fell into routine shortly after that, shifting places with those in the hall every hour or so. Rufus and the Turks took up the guest beds Cid had to offer and no longer lingered around Vincent's door. 

It had been a day at least before word of Vincent finally came to them from behind the doors of his room. Cid happened to be the one on duty when that happened along with Nanaki.

After the doctor finished talking with them he went back into the room and closed the door.

Cid kept his gaze on the door for a long while before Nanaki finally spoke.

"I think…its time to go and tell the others, my friend," Nanaki said very softly, his soul heavy with the knowledge.

Cid nodded numbly before following the fire cat blankly down the hallways.

When they reached the lounge the pressure on their hearts only increased. Yuffie was lying curled next to Reeve and Caith, who had arrived at some point in the night. Caith spelt peacefully in the girl's lap as Reeve read silently. Tifa and Cloud were seated together, their hands clasped together comfortingly, Tifa's head on his shoulder, his head on hers. Barret left to go and get the kids with some of Cid's crew. A heavy feeling in his heart told him that it was the right thing to do. They would have to call him with the news later.

Vince was nowhere to be seen.

Cid walked up to the sleeping couple, his footsteps attracting Reeve's attention as he did so.

"Is something wrong?" Reeve asked worriedly.

Nanaki merely cast him a sad glance and remained silent.

"Hey, Spike," Cid shook Cloud lightly, his voice pathetically choked and hoarse.

Cloud blinked and held back a groan as he slowly came to, Tifa following suit.

"Cid?" Cloud mumbled, "I'm sorry, did I forget to switch?"

Cid shook his head, his sky blue eyes pained as he did so, "Naw, kid. That ain't it."

Reeve shook Yuffie awake gently.

"Neh?" Yuffie whined.

As everyone began to awaken from their exhaustion their eyes fell upon the fire cat and the captain.

Nanaki looked up to Cid, asking him a silent question through his eyes; **_do you want me to tell them?_**

Cid's throat felt as though cotton had been shoved down it but he managed to speak anyways.

"The doctors…just gave us an update," Cid said softly, each word was painful to pull past his lips.

"Is he getting any better?" Yuffie instantly asked, storm gray eyes filled with all the hope and life that young people have, despite all the painful things life has brought upon her. Cid admired the brat for that strength. He wished he didn't have to smother that hopeful look so soon.

He opened and closed his mouth, searching for words before finally reaching for his cigarettes with shaky hands. After fumbling with the lighter he lit his cancer stick and took a deep drag. It did nothing to calm the pain raging inside him.

They merely watched him silently.

"The doctors said…that Vincent does have the GeoStigma," Cid let out a lung full of smoke.

Cloud sighed softly…_I already know that_.

"What else," Reeve asked softly.

Cid closed his eyes tight as though his head ached simply to have them open.

"They've never seen a case this bad. Its came up without warning and is spreading faster than any record they have of past cases. The disease…has spread into his lungs. The linings of his lungs are deteriorating, allowing his blood to sweep in. The only reason he isn't dead yet is because the spirits that share his body are trying to heal him. They've succeeded after the critical blows but the disease only continues to worsen after each attack. They stabilized him but…they say to prepare ourselves for the worst," Cid finally let it out, his voice hollow as the pain curled and constricted around his heart.

_**This can't be possible…The Great Vincent Valentine. The best of the Turks, the man who survived the beginnings of JENOVA and Mako experiments, the man who had several beasts within him, the man who countlessly put himself in front of the attacks made for others, the man who saved the world too many times to count, the man who could transform and heal himself at will…was dieing.**_

_**Would they have to return the friend they found back into the coffin they found him in? They knew if that were the case he wouldn't just wake up years from now, not this time.  
**_

…_**Was this…the end?**_

Outside it was raining. The tears of the Heavens brought no peace to the sorrowful souls in the lounge as they grieved for might come in the future.

* * *

Vincent slowly opened his eyes only to be greeted by the warm light of the sun upon his face. He blinked and lifted a hand to shield his eyes. A human hand. Two human hands. 

Vincent raised himself to sit up and looked around. It was different this time. The cherry blossoms were still there but now they covered the inside of Lucrecia's cave. He looked around from his place at the mouth of the cave, looking at the path of flowers that led to the lip of the waterfall.

"Vincent!"

He turned around to see none other than the love of his life before him.

_**Oh God, please…not JENOVA.**_

Lucrecia smiled and giggled, "Don't worry, Vincent. I won't let her in this time. I'll keep strong… for you."

Vincent looked at her warily. She wasn't in her lab uniform now. She was in the white dress that she wore within the crystal.

**_She is so…heartbreakingly beautiful…_**

She smiled, "Thank you."

"What's happening to me, Lucrecia?" he shook his head, "I don't understand."

She grew close to him, her footsteps making the blossom around her bloom far more beautifully than naturally possible. An Angel's touch, a loving touch…a wife and mothers' touch…a woman's touch.

She only stopped when she was inches away from him. His breath hitched in his throat as she looked up into his face. Bringing her hands up slowly she cradled his jaw in her hands. She brushed her thumbs upon his cheeks and she explored the endless abyss of his eyes with her own.

"You can't die yet, Vincent. They need you now more than ever," she whispered.

"I cannot deny Death, Lucrecia…"

She giggled, soft and sad, "You have before."

"You helped me," he whispered back. All he wanted was peace. Why couldn't he just rest in peace? Was it so much to ask for?

"Vincent, I know you are in pain. I know it hurts," she said softly, soothing his aching heart and mind by her very presence, "But they need you just one last time. And then it will be over, Vincent. Then you can finally find the peace I so selfishly ripped away from you."

He shook his head, "You didn't take it from me."

She smiled, looking at him with a loving and pitying gaze, "Lets not lie to each other, Vincent. I selfishly kept you alive only to leave you behind. But I'm here now and I won't be leaving anytime soon. But right now you need to return to them, Vincent. They're calling for you."

"Lucrecia…" he said weakly.

"Go, Vincent," she smiled, taking a step closer, bringing her lips within a hair's breath of his before pressing to him a bit tighter, giving him the soft push he needed to fall from the cliff of Sakura blossoms. His eyes were wide as he fell, his hand outstretched and reaching for her.

_**Lucrecia…**_

_They're waiting for you, Vincent. I'll be waiting too._

Vincent gasped as he plunged into the water, deeper and deeper and deeper until he felt as though he had reached the Life Stream itself. The water was cool on his feverish skin as he thrashed around, holding his breath for as long as he could. His lungs screamed for air and finally his body made the decision for him. He gasped and took in a lung full of the liquids around him and… it acted like air for his body.

Blinking away the shock he laid there, letting the water hold up his body, embracing him like a small child. His hair swirled around in the currents and everything slowly began to fall away until finally sounds began to reach his ears. Murmurs at first but slowly they gained strength.

"_Vincent…"_ they whispered.

He opened his eyes.

* * *

-yawns and slinks off to bed, ish exhausted- 

-Spazzy


	9. Fragments of Memories

Chapter 9: Fragments of Memories

Vincent opened his eyes…

It was amazing. All around him was life, life that he had never seen before. Yeah, he had been under the ocean once or twice thanks to Cid. He even fought in it but he had never gotten the chance to stop and look around. He had never been this deep before. His heart soared from the beauty that surrounded him.

The water, despite how deep he was, was clear, shadowless and unsoiled by the touch of man. Fish of all manners and sizes and colors twirled around in the area, swimming in the way they were each accustomed to. The sand below him drifted around lazily with the current. In the distance he could make out a large silhouette, which he assumed to be a whale. His sensitive ears easily picked up its beautiful sad song. He smiled again and closed his eyes. Was this where they really went to at the end?

He drifted there for what seemed like eternity and he was content. The water caressed every inch of him like a loving embrace and he floated there. Memories, pains, and heartaches…everything was washing away. His sins, his hurt…

His eyes widened.

…His friends.

**_I…can't remember their names…_**

…**_Their faces…_**

"Shit Vincent, I thought I taught you better than that! Guess all that training was for nothing!" came a male voice, humor laced into the tone, sorrow laden within it as well.

"Hey, don't be so mean!" a woman…

"Sorry, just saying, I would have thought that he would've turned out better. I spent a lot of time training him to perfection, you know."

Vincent turned to look at those whom were speaking to him. A man and a woman stood side by side, both smiling happily. One was wearing a dark blue suit, obviously a uniform. It seemed to be a familiar item to him but he couldn't put his finger on the reason why. His hair was a brownish red color and his smile was warm and oddly familiar.

The woman…

Somehow he knew this woman but from where? Her hair was a chocolaty brown bangs framing the sides of his face and the rest pulled back into a long spiraling ponytail. Her dress was a warm summer pink, long and pretty and frustratingly familiar. He searched and searched and searched for a name or a memory to put with her face but all he could recall was a smile and bright emerald eyes, both of which she had, only proving that he did know her but couldn't remember.

His expression must have given him away because the woman laughed softly, "Don't worry, Vincent. It's hard for a lot of living spirits to remember memories when they come here."

Vincent blinked, "Am I dead?"

It was the man that laughed this time, "You? Dead? You're harder to kill than a cockroach!"

The woman smiled, "No Vincent, you aren't dead…" her smile drifted off into a soft frown of worry, "But if you don't do something soon…"

Vincent took a deep breath, "But I am dieing."

"Yes."

Vincent closed his eyes and searched his heart for how it made him feel. He couldn't remember what had happened before this moment but when he searched his heart he found a startling peace float over himself. He was…content?

"That's the problem, Vincent. You can't die yet!" the woman said suddenly, her brows drawn close in a mix of sorrow and frustration.

"Why?"

The man crossed his arms, his expression also becoming serious, "They need you."

Vincent felt perplexed. People he couldn't even remember needed him?

"This doesn't make any sense…" he said softly.

* * *

"Cloud?" Tifa asked softly when she felt her fiancée move from his place beside her.

"Don't worry, Tifa. I'm just going to go check up on Vincent," Cloud said softly.

Tifa raised a weary eyebrow, "The doctors won't allow visitors…

Cloud allowed a small ghost across his face but it didn't quite make it to his eyes, a fake smile, "Sorry, I mean Vince."

Tifa nodded, "Alright."

Cloud silently left the room. They hadn't seen the Turk since Vincent first went under care. There hadn't been much time to think about it but the idea of losing Vincent's past self too startled Cloud more than he would like to say. The others felt it too. It had only been a little while that the younger version of their comrade had been with them but somehow he had made the transition into the group easier than it would be expected. Cloud was worried, Vincent's younger self seemed much more…expressive. He wondered how he was handling watching himself…in such a condition.

Cloud walked all over the ship, unsure of where to really check. After checking the waiting hall, the room they had given Vince and the kitchen an idea struck him. _Just because he is younger doesn't mean he doesn't like the same places as our Vincent._

Cloud finally made it to outside deck and smiled. There he was, clad in his overgrown outfit. Cloud couldn't suppress his smile from growing. They were the same guy, they both preferred the same places but it was easy to see just what the Nibelheim assignment did to change him.

Any time that Cloud caught Vincent out here he always looked the same. Leaning with his elbows on the railing, staring out into the endless skies around them, lost in his own world. His younger self was a bit livelier.

Vince sat perched on the top railing, his balance unbreakable, staring upwards instead of outwards, eyes closed and enjoying the feeling of the wind caressing his skin and combing through his hair. The rain hadn't stopped yet but that didn't seem to bother him one bit.

Cloud came up beside the younger version of his friend and gave off a soft sigh to let him know he was there. There was a soft silence that followed, neither awkward nor comfortable. Cloud was about to break the silence but Vince finally spoke.

"Gutta cavat lapidem."

Cloud blinked; utterly bewildered…_I think he has lost his mind…_

"Vince…you okay?"

Vince smiled warmly but it didn't reach his eyes, "Gutta cavat lapidem, dripping hollows out rock."

Cloud slowly began to understand, "Latin?"

Vince nodded, "That screams through my head," he whispered, "Every time I look at my older self."

Cloud glanced at Vince with wide and astonished eyes, "What…do you mean?"

Vince looked back to the sunset, "I am in no means weak. Killing for as long as I have turns the heart cold and the mind impervious to the unsettling after effects any other man would have after murder. I can handle a wide range of emotions in large quantities for long period of time however I think I just figured out why Veld often advised me not to bottle the emotions."

The name seemed to echo in his memory; Veld was once the Head of Turks.

"Veld is the one that trained me, you know…I couldn't handle the first mission, Veld told me he could see it in my eyes. When we returned to base I hid myself away but a well-trained Turk can find anyone and Veld, sadly, was a well-trained Turk. I was breaking down somewhere or other and Veld was there. He was always there. However, later on when my skills improved to a point where I could best him in a spar, Veld caught me one night when we had no work."

Vince glanced to Cloud and caught the curiosity settling in those light blue eyes and continued, "'It wasn't when you broke down that I worried, Vincent,' he told me, 'You began to worry me when you didn't even blink after a gunshot. I didn't train you to make you into a emotionless Turk, Vincent, I trained you to do your job and make it to retirement.'

"I thought about those words for a long time and wasn't for a couple of weeks later when I was promoted to a Field Captain that I consulted him on those words. I asked him why showing weakness did not worry him and he blinked at me quite slowly. I guess I disappointed him then…

"'Showing emotion isn't a form of weakness. Shit Vincent, I thought I taught you better than that! Guess all that training was for nothing! I'm relieved when you show emotion and those occasions are growing so few that even alcohol doesn't seem to help. Like I said, its not when you show emotion that scares me, it's when you don't even blink after a gunshot. I wouldn't have trained you to be so bloody perfect if I knew that was going to be the cost!'"

"Your humanity," it came out on a breath, Cloud finally understood.

Vince nodded, "My humanity. 'Don't bottle away your emotions, Vince. Don't just forget about the pains of murder! Gutta cavat lapidem, dripping hollows out the rock. Pretend to be as strong as you want, kid. Build up walls around your soul to your heart's content but dripping hollows out the rock. Eventually all those pains will catch up with you. I don't want you to lose your humanity, I don't want to make you into a monster.'"

Cloud blinked, _I'm a monster,_ how many times had Vincent said that?

Vince looked back to the sky, "Every time I look at him his words echo in my mind. If I ever get back…I mean…" Vince looked to Cloud, "Do you think I can change all this?"

Cloud's eyes widened as he let those words sink in.

_Everything's okay, _she had told him.

_But what if it can be fixed…would okay be enough knowing that?_

* * *

"She is trying to return and she found another way to do so," Veld said bluntly.

"Who is _she_?"

"JENOVA…you really don't remember," the woman said sadly, as though the idea truly was a pain for her.

Vincent would've shook his head but an onslaught of images suddenly clawed at his brain, ripping the vision of the two in front of him out and replacing it with another woman, someone who made his heart ache when he looked at her. Long light brown hair, chocolate eyes and a beautiful dress. Another image, same woman, different eyes…emerald eyes. Eyes that also belonged to a young man who was once at the prime of life, then slaughtered for all the wrongs he committed. Blue eyes, just like the emerald but bright, a tad bit haunted but still happy and lively. A group standing behind the man, proud and loyal and unyielding and finally another woman with a pink dress and emerald eyes, loving emerald eyes.

He breathed, "Aeris…Veld…"

"You remembered!" Aeris smiled, bringing the tips of his fingers together and smiling.

He looked at her and she could see the memories, the recognition, everything flooding back to him…including the walls upon walls of security around his heart.

Vincent nodded.

Veld wrinkled his nose, "I guess you didn't take my advice."

Vincent let his red orbs settle upon his friend from days long since passed, "No, Veld…" a soft sigh, "I should have."

Veld grinned, "Told you so."

* * *

How long had they been waiting for him to wake up now? They all lost track. It didn't help much that Tifa once stocked Cid's ship with the supplies from her bar during transport and left half of it on board. Matters grew worse when all the heartsick members of AVANLANCHE and Reno found it…well…more so that Reno found it.

"So why aren't cha drinking, my crazy little ninja friend?"

-Smack and insert fowl language here-

"Howdy Cloudy, wanna drink with me?"

Another bruise later, "Why doesn't anyone wanna drink?"

A few broken bones, a couple stitches, a load and a half of band-aids and a round of spiked drinks later…

"PARTY!"

"Why did I hire him again?" Rufus asked Tseng softly.

"He is loyal and committed, sir."

"Right…I'll try to keep that in mind later."

* * *

"Why am I here, Aeris? I know the GeoStigma is quite advanced but Cloud was still able to move when he had been diagnosed."

Aeris looked to the gunner sympathetically, "Your body was made to handle a different kind of stress, Vincent…"

"…"

"That means he doesn't know what the hell you are talking about," Veld pointed out.

Vincent and Aeris glared at Veld.

Veld shrugged and held his hands up in defeat, "Fine, just trying to help."

"Think of it this way, Vincent. Hojo…uh…_modified_ your body in order to properly handle the stress that Chaos and three other demons would bestow onto you. Thus you have the abilities that you do. Cloud and Kadaj were both made in mind to be clones with specific reasons and both handled the stress of the GeoStigma as such. Kadaj was made specifically for handling the GeoStigma and therefore the effects did not harm him in any way beyond harboring the vessel also made for Sephiroth."

"…"

"Your body wasn't made for the GeoStigma, Vincent. Actually, I have reason to believe that Hojo modified you in that manner intentionally," Aeris said like a modern Sherlock Holmes.

"You think he intentionally made me susceptible to the GeoStigma?" Vincent asked.

"Yes. You see, Chaos regulated all the cells in your body. Hojo inserted you with JENOVA cells but it wasn't because he wanted to test the effects of the cells, JENOVA already told him everything he needed to know. No, just in case you ever found a way to be rid of Chaos he wanted to make sure you wouldn't get off the hook."

"So the JENOVA cells were a back up plan. If I lost Chaos he wanted to make sure I would have to suffer something else," Vincent said softly, bitterly, eyes flashing.

"That is why the GeoStigma is effecting you more so than Cloud. But it gets worse…"

_It can get worse?_ Vincent wanted to say but he bit the comment back and listened.

* * *

Cloud was trying to out-drown the others in a drinking contest. Yuffie had already passed out. Barret was spilling more than he was drinking which probably meant the huge man was ready to drop. Cid was still gulping down whatever he could get along with Tifa, Cloud, Reno and Vince. The other Turks, including Rufus, opted to sit this out and let Reno 'represent' them.

A short while later and Cid and Cloud were out. Tifa, Reno and Vince were all that was left. If it were a real party Cloud was sure, in his sluggish state of mind, that someone would be screaming 'chug'.

And chug they did. Chug and chug and chug.

Tifa stopped, aware of when her limits were reached and unwilling to got too far.

Reno and Vince remained.

* * *

"JENOVA wants to stimulate your cells enough so that she may seal you to her."

"Past that there are only a few options JENOVA has…" Veld said.

"For one, she could try to continue Sephiroth's legacy through you, seeing as Chaos was meant to gather all the souls and lead the Life Stream to a new place with Omega, I don't see why this one would be far off." Aeris suggested.

"She could try and share or steal your body, which I find extremely creepy, "Veld tried to lighten the mood and failed.

"She could use you to find a suitable host or resource to return her to power on Gaia."

"Or she…"

Vincent raised a eyebrow at the pause.

"Or she might be trying to use you in order to create an heir strong enough to do what the prophecies of the Cetra foretold."

Vincent rubbed the bridge of his nose and considered if it really wouldn't be so bad to just take his trip to the Life Stream a bit early.

"Vincent! Don't you dare think that ever again!" Aeris screeched.

* * *

**Sorry for the delay, I've had…well, you know, the usual. A lot of work, blah blah blah. I wanted to send this out ASAP so I haven't spell checked it 'cause I need to go write a paper for AP English. REVIEW!!! TT.TT and as always, I love those who always review!! –huggles those who have been supporting me from the beginning-**

**-Spazzy**


	10. The Long Journey Home

Chapter 10: The Long Journey Home

_Alright, alright. I get the point! _Vincent wanted to scream. _I understand, I need to go back…wait…_

"Believe me, we thought about it that way too when the Planet warned me about this," Aeris said softly.

Veld nodded, "Sounds like that would be a logical answer but amazingly it is the worst thing you can do right now, Vinny."

"But if I don't return to my body now. If I just go to the Life Stream then my body will decompose into energy, right? JENOVA's threat, whatever it may be, would be gone…and don't call me Vinny."

Veld stuck his tongue out at the ex-Turk and Aeris shook her head before speaking, "Like I said, we thought that too, Vincent. But from what we can gather from the Planet…your body won't decompose…"

Vincent blinked and took a step back, "What do you mean, my body won't decompose. Everyone returns as energy to the Life Stream. I'm no different."

Veld dug into his pocket and withdrew a cigarette. Bringing it to his lips with the flick of the wrist and lighting it he took a deep drag, "Well, originally you weren't any different," he let loose a long trail of scentless smoke. How the cigarette was staying alight in the water was beyond Vincent. Veld continued, "but it seems that the Planet has something else in mind for you, my tall and rather creepy friend."

Vincent raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

"I believe you have been calling him Vince."

* * *

Reno slammed his shot glass onto the table and pulled a face. He was by no means a lightweight when it came to drinking. Hell, he even out drank Tseng once and considering that the Head Turk had his fair share of drinking ability under the belt that was in no means a light win but for the life of him he could not beat this kid.

He watched with heavy eyes as the man across from him downed another glass. Reno's face was almost as brightly heated as his hair but the Turk across from him only had a faint blush. _How the hell is he doing that?_

The dark haired man delicately placed his shot glass down having lapped his opponent at least three times and grinned, "I bet you're thinking," he paused, gazing deep into the red haired Turk's eyes and blinked, "For a second I would have thought you were wondering where the hell you went wrong in this but then again you look pretty smashed. Maybe you were blank to begin with?"

Anger came a bit to late to his reasoning as he sat there picking apart the statement.

"I'm curi-…curi-…" he took a deep breath, "I'm curi'us t'know how you aren't ev'n a tad bit affect'd by all this…" he waved his hand at the numerous liquors around them.

"I believe it is called a high tolerance, my friend, and I think that the Turk were a bit different between my day and yours."

Reno shot up from his chair with a growl before wavering on his feet and falling over.

"No harsh feelings, right?" Vince asked softly before standing, pushing in his chair and walking out of the lounge of passed out people.

He never heard Tseng follow.

* * *

"What does he have to do with this?" Vincent asked softly.

"Well, for one thing, you can't fully pass on because you sort of don't exist at the moment," Veld said with a wave of his hand.

Aeris decided that she could explain it better and interrupted, "Vince isn't just a piece of your memory that the materia Yuffie gave you plucked out. Vince really is your past self. If he dies you would too because he would never have returned to complete the life that you have now."

"That would be a blessing for him. Then he would…we would never have gone through any of this and Lucrecia…"

Aeris smirked, "Lucrecia would have gone along with the project without anything to hold her back. Sephiroth would have been born, Lucrecia would have been murdered by Hojo the second after her birth, everything would've have gone the way it did but think of the minor things that change. Lucrecia would be completely dead. And what about those times you jumped in the way of attacks? Wounds build up over time. Or what if Cloud never got your advice during the Reunion? What about Omega?"

"Omega would not have been operational if I did not exist, Aeris."

Aeris shook her head, "Do you really think that would have stopped Hojo? He would've found another way to purely make Chaos. Or Lucrecia might have before she died. Without you there to control Chaos then how would the world still exist? During those three major events, I highly doubt the world would still be safe without you."

Vincent shook his head, "The Planet would have compensated for my absence."

Veld raised his eyes to look at Vincent, "Ever think that maybe the Planet left you alive to be the compensation for everything that got screwed up in the first place? You are more important than you think, Vince."

Aeris looked to Vincent, "Anyways, without Vince back in his proper time you don't truly exist. Your body won't decompose without your proper existence and without your soul being whole, not to mention what Chaos left behind for you."

**You are so beautiful, Vincent. Why do you hide your beauty behind a mortal shell?**

**_Chaos is dead._**

**Yes, he has returned to your wonderful Life Stream. But he was simply a spirit, Vincent. This is your true form, a gift he left for you to continue to use.**

"Do you mean his powers?"

"No," Aeris said sadly, "I mean his immortality."

* * *

Vince returned to his place out on the deck. He felt better when he was here. He wasn't afraid or worried about the fact that he wasn't in his proper time. He wasn't hurting about the past. He wasn't thinking about the fact that the fire cat had proposed that he was simply a memory and nothing real at all. He was simply Vincent Valentine here. Just another human among millions and he was content.

He didn't risk sitting on the top of the railing this time. He could hold his fair share of liquor but it didn't mean that his bodily functions weren't affected, just not significantly...or so he thought.

Vince never heard the footsteps behind him and was completely unaware of having company until a soft chuckle nearly threw him out of his skin.

"Seems you bluff better than you drink, Mr. Valentine."

Vince whipped his head around to look at the man talking to him. Tseng.

"Shouldn't you be body guarding the President?" Vince said softly, muscles tightening in preparation should he have to make a quick movement.

"Considering that all of AVALANCHE is either passed out, incapacitated in the bathroom or no where to be seen and that three out of his four Turks are sober, I think he will be fine without me."

Vince regarded his company, "What do you want?"

"My boss requests that he have his word with you now, while AVALANCHE cannot interrupt."

"I'm afraid not. The deal was that I would talk with your boss after Vincent was treated and even then we would converse together, Vincent and I," Vince growled, glaring at the emotionless Turk, "That was the deal."

"I'm afraid I must insist."

Vince had learned it was not a good idea to turn your back on the enemy. Fully facing the man before him his gun hand reached for Quicksilver, "I don't really see what you think you can do about it."

"I already did."

A faint touch of pain kissed Vince in the shoulder. A quick look gave him all the answers he needed. A small dart was poking through his shirt, deep into the skin and muscle of his shoulder. A numbing pain began to spread from the shoulder outwards. Clutching his weakening shoulder and glanced around for exit routes. A latter to the right, too dangerous given his position… A door behind Tseng, blocked. The railing…he wasn't keen on dieing.

Too late. Strength fled his legs a bit too soon for comfort and Vince found himself growing closer and closer to the floor before swift arms caught him. Slinging one incapacitated arm over his own, Tseng began to drag the limp Turk to the room Rufus told him of. Vince couldn't protest in the slightest. He could only watch as he was dragged towards the Shinra President that he had never heard of just a short couple of days ago.

* * *

Vincent held back a laugh that threatened to bubble up, "Immortality? Aeris…I'm dieing! How could you possibly suggest he left me his immortality?"

"An immortal man can still die, Vincent. Just not by normal causes. Death by sword, death by something immediate…death by the GeoStigma…" Aeris said gently.

"Alright, so what does Chaos' gift have to do with this?"

Veld took another long drag, "Well, Chaos went to the Life Stream and left his impurities within your body. That's why you can still transform into Chaos. However, the Life Stream cannot handle that amount of impurity all at once. Your body would decompose very, and when I say very I mean _very_ slowly, if at all, in order to regulate the amount that is going in. With you body soulless JENOVA can stimulate the cells to stop attacking your body and actually use it to her advantage."

"Alright, but even with that in mind the GeoStigma is still going to kill me. How can I possibly do anything when I barely can get out of bed?"

Aeris smiled gently, sympathetically, "Use the gift that Chaos left you and regulate the cells yourself. You aren't quite as powerful as Chaos but that should buy you quite a lot of time."

Vincent wrinkled his nose at the idea but he didn't shove it aside, "What do you want me to do?"

"You need to free the Life Stream from JENOVA's hold."

Vincent blinked, "Isn't she just a bundle of body parts now?"

"Mostly she has been destroyed in body, Vincent. Her cells no longer exist on the Planet except in you; I've been purifying the rain to catch anyone who may not have been saved the first time. But there are still souls in the Life Stream that are impure. You need to go and purify those souls, Vincent," Aeris said.

"How? I can't go into the Life Stream."

Veld flicked his cancer stick onto the floor and ground it out, "If you would actually listen to what some of Shinra has to say you would find out. They know just as much about this situation as we do."

Vincent blinked in surprise.

"Now don't pin them as angels, they still get personal gain from this," Veld rolled his eyes, "They still would get you and Vince as Turks."

"Figures."

* * *

Tseng lowered Vince into a chair before moving to stand by the door.

"Mr. Valentine, so sorry for the inconvenience but I can no longer waste time. If I am correct then the Planet is already dealing with Vincent so I decided I would fill you in."

Vince just stared at him with cold fury, slumped in the chair a bit uncomfortably and unable to do a thing about it.

"You see, Vincent is a vital key JENOVA needs but you are too. Now…how to properly explain this…we need you and Vincent to hack into a secret lab that Hojo established sometime back. He should have a machine that will open a portal to allow the impurities from the Life Stream to trickle through. From there all you need to do is destroy them and we will be free from JENOVA's taint," Rufus said, "And then…I need you to deal with the Ex-Turk."

Vince blinked, his sign for continue.

* * *

"Alright but…the portal. Wouldn't that still release some of the more terrible things JENOVA has caused?" Vincent asked.

"Don't get me wrong, Vincent. This will not be easy. The Planet will provide a barrier to keep the monsters in the building but you and your team will be stuck as well, confined to the building a whatever grounds that Hojo owned. Countless tainted monsters will overrun this place, let AVALANCHE deal with the monsters, that will be plenty of work for them. From there you'll still have Yazoo, Loz, Kadaj, Hojo, Sephiroth, Lucrecia and JENOVA to deal with," Veld said.

"Let Cloud handle Sephiroth, Vincent. If things go right then Cloud may be able to take down the triplets along the way but as far as the triplets go, let whoever can take them down handle them. Teams, perhaps. You handle Hojo, Vincent. I'm afraid that with the power he has gained from his last visit he will be stronger. I know you can handle him but it might mean he'll have Weiss again…be prepared for that," Aeris rambled, "You could open the portal further to look for familiar faces, Vincent. I'm sure Zack wouldn't mind helping. It might be a good idea to search out Nero as well he could help with Weiss. I wouldn't mind coming to help either."

"I can help too," Veld said quickly, smirking, "I've been itching for some action."

Aeris began to wring her hands nervously, pausing, as thought considering how she would say what came next, "You'll have to take care of Lucrecia as well, Vincent."

Vincent's eyes went wide.

_Lucrecia?_

"Why?"

"Think about it, Vince. She is quite deeply tainted and like you she cannot pass on. The only thing that is keeping JENOVA away from using her is that the materia she is incased in wouldn't allow her to escape. But if you open the portal…" Aeris took a breath, "The labs aren't exactly near to her cave but the labs run off of the Mako in the cave. Using the portal will critically damaged the Mako she is encased in. JENOVA will see the breach and attempt to take the body so Shinra is going to move the crystal into the labs. When the materia dies then at least JENOVA will be stuck in the barrier and unable to run. You'll have to kill her body and then purify her soul. Only then can she truly move on, Vincent."

"I understand…but through all of this you have yet to explain to me how we are going to send Vince back."

"We aren't allowed to tell you that Vincent. The Planet gave us strict orders on that," Veld explained.

"Vincent…you got to go back now. They're waiting," Aeris said.

"Well…more like they're all passed out but they're still waiting for you and Vince kind of needs your help," Veld said sheepishly.

"How do I get back?" Vincent asked after a brief pause.

Aeris smiled and replied, "Just let go, Vincent. Let go of everything and just listen."

And so he did.

* * *

Vince stretched and walked out of the office he had been in. How long exactly had Rufus kept him in there? He wasn't really sure but he was just happy that he could move again. Sadly, the dart and whatever it contained seemed to have amplified the effects of the liquor from before. He tottered down the hallways on unsteady feet, determined to reach the decks he so dearly loved once more.

Rufus had said a lot of stuff to him…a lot of stuff…_What was Rufus rambling about?_

Now that Vince thought about it he really couldn't remember. He let loose a rough barking round of laughter. All that time and effort and he didn't remember a single word of gibberish that Rufus had uttered to him. Suppressing an amused giggle he continued on his way. He stopped, however, when something odd caught his attention.

Vincent's room…

* * *

Vincent closed his eyes and listened. He could hear the water around them, the songs of life that drifted on the currents.

"No, not like that Vincent," Aeris scolded, "With your heart. Don't you remember how to do that, Vincent?"

_With his heart…_the last time he did that it led him to the truth about his past. What would it lead him to this time, he wondered.

He closed down everything. He didn't listen, he didn't look, didn't feel…nothing. He simply was. Simply existed and waited.

That's when it hit him, a million voices, a million pains, a million worries and all of them surrounded him like thick blankets, threatening to swallow him whole.

_Slow down!_

His words echoed in his mind the voices seemed to calm down but only for an instant. Then they were on top of him again.

_Vincent…wake up, Vincent…c'mon Vamp…don't do this…you can't…don't leave yet…you aren't a monster…why…you can't die…all this time you were just as fragile as the rest of us…I'm sorry I couldn't save you…all my fault…we need you…you can't leave yet…_

_**Can I ask you something, Vincent?**_

He breathed…_Tifa?_

* * *

Vince leaned against the frame of door and watched, listening to the words of Tifa.

Tifa had brought a chair to the bed's edge and she was watching Vincent, her eyes smiling and shedding tears at the same time. She swiped at them and laughed.

"Look at me…this isn't the time to be crying, is it, Vincent?" she asked softly, looking past the blurs in her eyes to the man lying in the bed.

_So pale…so cold…_ She thought to herself as her hand brushed against his brow. He looked so…_peaceful._ Was it right to want him to come back?

He had been through so much, more so than most of AVALANCHE…what right did they have to bring him back from whatever peace he had found? She slowly undid the bandana at his brow, freeing the mane of hair behind it. Bangs drifted into Vincent's face but she brushed them away gently.

"I think I had a bit too much to drink…but…you never did mind listening before. Would you listen to me again, my friend?" Tifa asked softly.

She brought her feet up into her chair, bending her knees close to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, resting her chin on her folded arms to look at him with a tilted gaze.

"You know, I read a story to Marlene last night…she is quite smart, you know. I was surprised that when I pulled out the book she offered to read it to me instead. I remember trying to get her to read before. We even got notes from school saying she was struggling. But this book…she did quite well. I'm not saying she read it perfectly but she got through it…"

_"Tifa! I did it!" Marlene giggled, closing the book with a thawp and turning in Tifa's lap to look at her. Tifa was stunned._

_"That was amazing, Marlene! How did you come to read so well? Has Barret been sneaking books to you at night?" Tifa laughed, tickling the girl at her ribs and laughing harder as Marlene squealed in ticklish surprise._

_"No, Vincent does!"_

"Marlene told me that on the days you come to visit you read to her and that you've been teaching her, Vincent…I never even knew. She always got mad at me when I offered to help her. How did you get her to listen?"

Vincent smiled as he listened to Tifa. He couldn't reach his body for some reason…maybe he didn't have enough will to do so. Either way when Vincent opened his eyes he found himself sitting on the windowsill of his room, looking at Tifa as she spoke to him.

_So Marlene finally told you, hmm?_

Oh yes, he remembered. He closed his eyes and rested his head back against the window.

He had been suffering through a particularly bad nightmare that night. He tried to think of when the late night reading all started but he couldn't place a date. When the nightmare had finally released him though he found himself being hugged by Marlene…or at least his head was being hugged.

_"Please, Mr. Vincent…wake up!" she had said over and over again, cradling his head gently but firmly._

_"Marlene?"_

_"Mr. Vincent! Are you okay? It looked like you were having a bad dream," she whispered._

_Vincent sat up, releasing his head from her hold, "I'm fine, Marlene. Shouldn't you be sleeping?"_

_"I can't sleep."_

_Vincent stared at her for a while…why wasn't she going away? Wasn't like it was his problem. Why didn't she go ask Cloud or Tifa or Barret? Or even the boy…_

_"Do you want me to go get Tifa?" Vincent asked softly, "She is probably closing the store about now."_

_"No!" Marlene said, suddenly grabbing for his hand as he motioned to get up, dropping the book that was in her lap._

What did that have to do with this?

"Are you okay, Tifa?" Vincent asked aloud.

Tifa imagined what Vincent would have said, she guessed, as she heard his voice whisper across the room. She probably had way too much to drink…

"You know Vincent…I think you would be an amazing father," she said softly, reaching out one hand to cradle his own, "Why can't you just let it go…you could get any girl you wanted, you know…"

She had the damnedest impression that Vincent would have snorted right about now. Maybe even let out a chuckle.

She giggled at the thought and watched his sleeping body silently. Her body was trembling. Why was she so afraid?

"Can I ask you something, Vincent?"

_"Go ahead, Tifa." Vincent said from his place at the windowsill._

"Do you think I would be a good mother?" Tifa asked in a trembling voice, "Because I'm not so sure…"

_"Tifa…" now he was worried._

"I couldn't help Aeris…I almost lost Cloud…and now you…if I can't even take care of my friends then what right do I have to a family? Some nights I wish it were I instead of Aeris. She would've taken better care of Cloud. She would know how to save you right now!" tears rolled down her face, "She wouldn't be afraid to tell her fiancée that she is pregnant!"

_Vincent's eyes widened and then became quite soft. He walked over to her, small tendril of the Life Stream swirled harmlessly as he moved, almost like rainbow colored fireflies._

_"Tifa," he said as he put a hand on his friend's shoulder but it just went straight through._

_**They need you.**_

_He took a deep breath and looked to his body. Despite the pain he couldn't just leave…they needed him; he finally let it sink in._

Tifa shivered as she felt something cold touch her shoulder but that didn't stop the tears pouring down her face. She hiccupped.

_Vincent turned to look at his body just as Tifa stood._

"What am I thinking…I shouldn't put more stress on you," she tried to smile but the sorrow leaked through, "Please…just come back soon."

She turned to leave and the room seemed to swirl in her vision.

_Vincent looked to his prone form and prepared himself. Bringing one hand to touch the flesh of his form he watched as the tendrils of his spirit drifted to his body and connected, slowly at first and then quickly, zipping into his body and quite suddenly he felt as though a force was dragging him into his flesh, sucking him into his soulless shell. Suddenly he wasn't standing by his bed any more. He opened his eyes._

* * *

Vince heard Tifa stand. Not wanting to hurt her more by catching her uttering such personal information he began to fight with himself on whether or not he should stay.

Then he smiled. He could be in two places at once, right? Suddenly he just knew…just felt…that his older self had finally returned. Smiling, he started to make his way to the deck again. He heard his other self just as he went of out earshot.

"Tifa…"

* * *

"Tifa…"

Tifa whirled around as she herd a familiar voice. Looking to the bed she found him framed by a sudden slash of lightening that flashed outside in the storm. She was relieved to see those glowing red eyes but for some reason her own popped wide in panic.

"Oh, Vincent! You're awake! Are you okay? Do you need anything?" Tifa rambled, trying frantically to wipe away the tears with her sleeves but more only came in their place.

"Tifa…" Vincent said softly, watching her sadly.

She stilled.

Vincent paused for a heartbeat, looking at her heartbreaking situation and tried to figure out what to say. _Tell her what she needs to hear…_

She was about to speak when Vincent finally continued.

"I think you will be a breathtaking mother."

* * *

Another chapter is finished. Big thanks to all those who reviewed for my last chapter! I was really losing courage with this fic but you guys helped a lot! Particular thanks to a certain individual especially!

I hope you enjoyed it!

-Spazzy


	11. The Beginning of the End

Chapter 11: The Beginning of the End

"He's awake!"

"Please move, Miss!"

"How are you feeling, Mr. Valentine? You came back from the coma!"

The rustling of clothing, the blurs of movement, the doctors rushing around, checking equipment and all the while Tifa couldn't move. She just watched with wide eyes as they set to helping Vincent. His words echoed in her ears over and over and over again.

_"I think you will be a breathtaking mother."_

"You need to leave the room, Miss!" a doctor exclaimed in frustration, trying to making her budge from her place. Her mahogany eyes sought out blazing red orbs. Vincent gave her a reassuring look, his eyes comforting and confident. The spoke volumes to her, _go ahead, I'll be fine._

She left the room and once she was outside the world seemed to rush back to her. _I've got to go wake up the others!_

Back in the room Vincent sat perfectly still, eyes unmoving from the door as he was assaulted by millions of questions. Doctors took blood, checked his pulse, his temperature and hundreds of other things but Vincent didn't mind.

An ache in his chest reminded him of what needed to be done. He couldn't do that in here though. He wouldn't risk it and he needed _space._

Without a word Vincent began to move, the harness on his torso moving fluidly with his movements as though it were an actual part of his body. The doctors all froze amazed.

"Sir…you should lay back down and rest…"

Vincent said nothing. Standing up, clad in his black slacks and numerous bandages, probably scar tissue that reopened during who knows when, and began his walk to the deck.

The doctors watched the door close with dumbfounded confusion.

* * *

"Cloud! Cloud wake up! Its important!"

A rushed, familiar and sadly annoying voice met his ears. In his heart he knew the voice meant a lot to him but his alcohol-muddled brain just wanted to sleep. Swatting halfheartedly at the source of the annoyance and groaned, "No."

Tifa blinked.

No?

Who the hell did he think he was?

"WAKE UP!" she screeched, grabbing his ear with a soon to be motherly force and yanked him up.

"Whoa! Tifa! Stop!"

"Vincent is awake and all you can think about it sleeping! Cloud Strife, you lazy ass!" Tifa growled.

Cloud was about to say something about how cold her insult was until the first part of her statement hit him; his expression went from defensive to shocked, "Vincent is awake?"

Tifa nodded, "I'll wake up the others. You go check out what the doctors have to say."

With that Cloud fled from the lounge of passed out comrades, rushing for the room Vincent was in. Tifa began to slap any drunken face close to her and scream rather random things to wake them up.

* * *

Cloud skidded to a halt outside Vincent's room. Grabbing the doorframe and using his momentum from the run down there he threw himself into the room.

"How is he?" he said between drunken gasps and then blinked, looking at the dumbfounded doctors and then the sheets dangling haphazardly from the _empty_ bed.

"He just left," a doctor said with a soft and befuddled voice.

Cloud started his sprint anew. As he flew down the hallways, avoiding a dumbfounded Rufus as he did so, he allowed the thought of where the younger Turk was to flit through his head before continuing. What was the once place he _always_ found the Valentines. The deck.

He shouldered the door to the deck open, skidding to a halt beside a rather confused looking young Turk.

"Vince? What the hell is happening?" he asked. The air was eerily calm it seemed. Like the calm before the storm… His gaze went from Vince to where those rusty red eyes led.

He blinked.

"Vincent!"

* * *

Vincent was standing in the middle of the deck, looking out at the dark storm clouds. The rain had stopped as though the eye of the storm was over them. The eerie calm was comforting to him. The air was cool and crisp in his ill lungs. He took a deep breath and looked up to the rapidly darkening sky.

_I hope you're right…Aeris…_

There was always this line of self-control within him that was always clutched tightly in his hand. Even when Chaos or one of his other beasts took him he held it close. It was his lifeline, the only thing there to prevent him from permanently losing control. If what Aeris said was true then he would have to let go of that lifeline. He if let go, even just once, he knew he would never be able to grasp that lifeline again. He took a deep breath and searched deep within his soul…

Opening his stark red eyes he turned to Cloud and Vince. He was faintly aware of the footsteps rapidly approaching the doors to the deck. With a halfheartedly wisp of effort he allowed his magic to close those doors and lock them. It was bad enough that Cloud and Vince were already involved but he knew they could handle themselves.

"Should something happen, Cloud, I trust you to do what needs to be done," his voice carried on the windless air like a caress.

"Vincent…" Cloud uttered. He wasn't doing what he thought he was doing…was he?

Vincent turned back to the sky and closed his eyes. _He let go._

His soul had the faint sensation of falling, the numerous amounts of different cells in his body flared and for a moment his body went whipcord tight and color drained from his feverish flesh. Then he reached further. Further and further and further until finally his hands brushed against a familiar power. Something lodged far deeper than any of his monsters or any of the JENOVA cells. Something as deeply lodged into his flesh as his own soul. Chaos' energy flooded into his bloodstream in a sudden spasm.

The energy shot through him like quick and fiery tendrils, neither uncomfortable nor unpleasant. The tendrils stroked every dormant cell that Chaos once possessed. The cells were lodged deep under the JENOVA cells and as they were revived and rekindled they ripped through the taint of JENOVA's touch as smoothly as a knife goes through butter. Rising to the surface they began to rekindle Vincent's dieing flesh. They embraced his lungs and began their work, freeing the organs from the claws of JENOVA's clutch, caressing them gently and reforming over them, healing the damage that was done.

Muscle, sinew and bone were recovered as Chaos cells began to twist and form perfectly with Vincent's fleshy tissue, strengthening them and reforming them to deadly perfection. Bones popped deliciously. The movement was visible as the transformation came upon his awakening flesh. The harness moved with a beautiful fluency, stretching comfortably where the ribs broke free and reformed. Lengthening with his spine as it popped and expanded. The harness caressed the flesh of his scarred shoulders as bone snaked through, forming tissue and sinew and armor of its own. Toes curled in ecstasy…_the transformations always hurt before but this…this feels like heavenly bliss…_Vincent thought to himself, a double-sided echo.

Cloud and Vince watched, unable to tear their eyes away from what was happening before them. Vincent's lips were parted, showing off the fangs that lay beneath them. Muscle rippled under his skin in delirious delight. Hair began to shift into a wild mane of thick black tresses. Then, as suddenly as the transformation started it stopped.

Vincent took a deep and healthy lung full of air, breathing as deep as he dared before releasing the breath with ecstatic pleasure. Opening his eyes, bright amber eyes, he looked to his comrades and grinned.

Vince blinked in surprise as the sound of metal being freed sang through the air. Cloud had drawn his blade.

"What are you doing?" Vince yelled at his comrade.

Cloud didn't look to Vince nor did he answer.

"Vincent?" he asked, voice caught between dread and hope.

Vincent looked over to Cloud and then down at his ashen skinned hands. Forcing back a deep chuckle Vincent looked back to Cloud and titled his head.

Cloud searched those amber eyes for his answer. They held a clarity he had never seen in Chaos' demented gaze before. Intelligence, loyalty, pride, sorrow…hope. Vincent?

Another deep breath later and the rain started. Cloud let loose a startled gasp. Aeris' rain?

_No Cloud…but something like that._ Aeris sang to him on the rain.

Vincent looked up at the sky and let the rain fall down upon him. Sheets upon sheets of gentle rainfall splashed down upon his form, sliding down every ripple of healed muscle and every curve or recovered flesh. He held his arms out and let the rain caress his face. The tears of the heavens mingled with those of a monster and a man.

Cloud sensed that Aeris was smiling from where ever she was. Looking from the rain to Vincent he blinked in surprise. Vincent was…changing.

Vincent's wings pulsed with a blazingly bright red energy and then they suddenly shattered into millions of small orbs of red energy, fluttering around like snow about Vincent's form. Fangs returned to blunt human teeth and pointed ears smoothed into round curves. Dark tresses began to lower down into their normal wild style, gently touching the skin of his back. Color crawled back into the ashen skin. Vincent opened his beautiful red eyes, blazing with a lively and refreshed fire. But the change stopped there. Vincent's bones and muscles stayed as they were, honed to a deadly perfection only Chaos had.

Cloud looked at Vincent, no longer 6' but at least two inches taller, muscled and healthy and blazing with a red-hot energy. Vincent titled his head and smiled at Cloud's confusion, "Hello again, Cloud."

Cloud blinked and smiled, "Hey."

Vince just watched his older self in awe.

"You have to teach me how to do that."

* * *

A deep inhale…

_Breathe in…breathe out…_

A footstep, followed by another and another and another.

_Breathe in…breathe out…_

The crunch of his thick leather shoes against brittle bone…a comrade once…now the result of another creature's feast.

_Breathe in…breathe out…_

The steady progression towards the thing that caused it all.

_**System Shall Self-Destruct In 10 Minutes.**_

_Breathe in…breathe out…_

Rusty red eyes warm and compassionate, meets their reflection.

_**System Shall Self-Destruct In 9 Minutes.**_

_Breathe in…breathe out…_

A gun barrel aims towards his forehead, he mirrors the movement.

_**System Shall Self-Destruct In 8 Minutes.**_

_Breathe in…breathe out…_

"They are all dead now…"

"Yes, I know…"

The same voice, who said what?

_**System Shall Self-Destruct In 7 Minutes.**_

_Breathe in…breathe out…_

"One of us has to die for this hell to end."

The frantic shake of a head, panicked gasps.

_Can't breathe…_

_**System Shall Self-Destruct In 6 Minutes.**_

…_I need to breathe!_

Blood surges forth, something no quantity of cells can contain.

"She is trying…just trust me."

_Can't breathe!_

A rush of movement. Adrenaline, frantic heart beats, even but different. Blood is singing.

_**System Shall Self-Destruct In 5 Minutes.**_

_I'm going to die…_

"Do it! Fire, damn it!"

The frantic shake of his head.

_**System Shall Self-Destruct In 4 Minutes.**_

_Breathe, damn it! Just breathe!_

Shaking fingers, a delicate pin, and one last target.

"Its suicide!"

"You aren't me!"

_**System Shall Self-Destruct in 3 Minutes.**_

_This is just a nightmare…Breathe!_

…

_It stopped…just a nightmare. He could breathe. Everything faded away and distantly he knew his frantic intakes of breath had finally steadied._

"_Vince, wake up! Its time to go. We just got the call from dispatch."_

* * *

The sharp smack still echoed in his ears from before as he tenderly caressed his flaming and stinging cheek.

"Damn it, Yuffie! You didn't have to slap me!" Vince glared at her indignantly.

"And I hope I slapped some sense into you! We have to go. Cid is calling everyone down into the Pit. Something about how ShinRa has an message going through the systems or something."

Vince blinked. _ShinRa is supposed to be waiting for us. What could possibly be so urgent?_

He rolled over the meeting from a couple of nights ago in his mind once more. It had been a couple of days since Vincent reclaimed the gift Chaos left behind. After the group had finally reached a port both of them received new clothing. Vincent went to a tailor and readjusted the measurements of his clothing to better fit his new height and build. The build wasn't much of a difference, just a bit more fabric to relieve the constant pressure on his newly formed and rather deadly muscles. His height, now being a full two inches taller, needed much attention.

Vince, however, bought new clothes altogether. He tried to dawn his Turk uniform once more but the suit just seemed to settle with him wrongly now. He couldn't touch it without his stomach lurching. Clad in black cargo pants, fitted with pockets to hold ammo, small items and a gun at his waist, the pants tucked down into thick black combat boots quite nicely. A tight gunner's t-shirt, thick in material but close to the body for easy movements, adorned his torso. The material was dark red, nearly black, caressing the muscles of his body perfectly and tucking beneath his pants. Seams were masterfully placed for ultimate flexibility. His hands were adorned with fingerless gloves; perfect for his guns.

After they finished stocking up for what was to come, they set off once more towards the place Aeris and Veld had spoken of. Shinra was to wait until AVALANCHE arrived before they set into the building with Doctor Lucrecia Crescent's body and activated the machine. What was all the commotion for?

"Damn it, ShinRa! I told you to stay the hell put! Why can't you just sit still?" Cid snarled adding a few choice words with the comment as he did so.

Rufus responded from his end of the radio, communicating from a case just outside of the labs they were heading to.

"We can't afford to waste anymore time, Pilot. I sent them in to get a head start. The good Doctor is already safely placed inside of the lab and my men are awaiting my signal to operate the machines. I will wait until you get here to start them, allowing you to slip through the barriers so that we can get this over that much sooner."

"There will be monsters. Creatures worse than any of the others…if this lab was created in secret then the worst experiments will be here. Judging from the condition you reported, they are probably loose, demented and hunting. God knows what abilities they have, what they guard or what their habits are. You shouldn't have sent your men in so soon, Rufus," Vincent voice, calm and collected, easily cut through the room.

"That's why I sent in the best," he said.

Vincent leaned against the glass of the Pit, looking outside as the labs began to peak up into view, "Then your best are probably dead, ShinRa."

Vince couldn't help but stare with pale horror at his statement. It was said so simply but the gravity of it pressed down upon him like a weight. His stomach flipped as his nightmare thrust its way up to the top of his conscious thinking.

_"They are all dead now…"_

* * *

"I can't believe we got this lame ass job!" Reno whined, leaning back into the control panel's chair as he scooted the chair across the room for the eleventh time in the past minute.

Tseng could feel his vein throb at his temple but his expressionless mask never faltered, "Just watch the radio, Reno. We're waiting for the signal. Its important."

Rude stood by the door with Elena, watching the hallways with gun drawn, making sure it was clear. So far so good.

"Still, the Pres could have sent some noobs to do this. We have quite a few rookies, ya know? Why not let them deal with this boring shit, yo?" Reno growled, tossing him and the chair once more across the room.

Tseng rubbed his temples, afraid they would explode, "Just be patient, Reno."

"I know, I know."

* * *

Cid lowered the ship enough so that the two groups assigned to go to the building via land would be able to safely reach ground as quickly as possible.

The groups had been decided long before they arrived. Thanks to Shelke, they had blueprints of the entire complex. Framing out each section they spilt the groups accordingly. The first group would enter through the front, distracting whatever was lying in wait and hopefully removing much of the threat before continuing in and towards the machine's location. The group consisted of Cloud, Tifa and Barret, along with a large quantity of WRO agents.

The next group would attack from behind and search out the location of the portal connected to the machine for the pure souls. There they would get the souls that the Planet agreed to allow to aide them. However, this machine was in the western section of the labs. The path would be long and hard, both there and back as they would make their way to the machine location afterwards. That group consisted of Vince, Red XIII, and Yuffie. Hopefully they would have Aeris and Zack with them shortly.

The last group would attack via air, straight through the top of the building and then make its way to the negative portal to deal with whatever they could that came out. It was one negative to the machine. Through the main portal in the machine's location, the impurities they wanted out would come but both the good and bad portals would open as well. They needed to close the bad portal before the end was over. Sooner rather than later. That group was just Vincent and Cid. They preferred to have a larger group but given the circumstances, they couldn't spare a man. With Vincent's new abilities, they would be fine. Not to mention that the pilot wasn't half bad at fighting anyways.

The remaining WRO agents, the ones not going in with the first group, were already randomly stationed within the lab's stronghold. Vincent watched from his place by the window as Cloud, Tifa, Barret, Yuffie, Red XIII, and his younger self all jumped down to go and meet up with Rufus in the base before setting off for the lab.

"You ready, Vincent?" Cid asked, voice gruff and confident.

Vincent nodded and followed the Pilot as he gave the controls to another well-trained crewman and went to the cargo hatch. Grabbing one of the machines Vincent and the others used during the Deep Ground raid, Vincent and Cid mounted their separate vehicles.

The light by the cargo hatch flickered and the doors began to open slowly, grinding and opening to show the huge lab complex below them. They had to use these special machines in order to get down safely without getting the airship trapped once the barrier went up.

Red. Yellow. Green.

"Yee-hah!" Cid shouted and he sped off into the air, Vincent right behind him. Together they flipped and turned with a grace that most practiced people still couldn't claim.

* * *

Cloud watched with the others as Vincent and Cid dropped down into the complex. Through his binoculars he could tell that the two reached the top of the building safely. With that done and a departing way to group two as they loaded into a land cruiser and started off for the back of the complex, Cloud turned his attention to Rufus.

"Alright," he said as he mounted the motorbike ShinRa provided him for the raid, "Everything is moving smoothly. Once we get into range, tell them to flip the switch. We'll handle it from there."

"All lines will be left open but keep in mind that there will be no back up for this. What you have is all you get," Rufus said softly from his place behind the control desk, several top trained WRO agents surrounding him, "I just got a transmission from Reeve when you were landing. He is deep within the complex already, looking for the controls in order to shut down any traps that we may not have picked up. We tried to get blueprints from Shelke via phone once inside but radios are the only devices that still work in the building and the farther in you get the worse the signal. Careful, Strife."

Cloud nodded as he adjusted the riding goggles he got for Christmas snuggly against his eyes, "We're off, ShinRa. See you when this is over."

Cloud let his engine purr into life as the other mounted their own bikes. Once everyone was ready to go he let the bike go, jetting off to the building with practiced ease, the others not far behind.

Somewhere deep in his heart he knew, as he watched the building slowly growing larger in his vision, that there would not be a return mission.

He was ready to go out with a bang.

* * *

Vince stretched, prepared himself as he mounted one of the new crafts ShinRa created. The cruiser was going impossibly fast, throwing the occupants every which way as it blazed towards the back of the illegal complex. Strapping his feet into the magnetic straps that would easily keep his legs locked to the board without troubling his ankles and movements, Vince prepared himself. A quick glance to Yuffie and Red XIII let him know that they had experienced battle many times before and they were ready. Letting lose a eager and nervous sigh he looked out the back of the cargo cruiser.

"Approaching destination, Mr. Valentine!" one of the WRO agents called. Each group had their leaders. Cloud was the leader of the first group. Vince was given leadership of the second group despite the short amount of time he had spent with the group. He had proved his status the day he over threw Rufus and the Turks single handedly. Vincent was the leader of the third group, despite its small size of two.

He closed his eyes. _Breathe in…breathe out…_

He shuddered recalling those words, bringing back the dream from earlier. Shoving the unwanted memory to the back of his mind he stood, the hover craft, designed much like a snowboard, scraped lightly against the floor as he wedged his way to the drop in the back.

"Ready for the jump, Group 3?" the WRO agent called.

Yuffie touched her earpiece gently and grinned, "The Great Ninja Yuffie is ready for anything!"

She made her way to the back, her own hovercraft scraping gently against the ground, still deactivated.

Nanaki padded over to the two. He did not need a craft, nor could he use it. The fire cat would have to rely on leg power but he had more than enough.

"Go!"

Vince and Yuffie leapt up and lunged out of the still moving vehicle. The slightly high drop from the back of the cruiser to the ground gave them the time they needed to activate the machines and they were jetting off towards the back cargo entrance of the labs in no time. Nanaki leapt off the back and was instantly running when his paws connected with solid ground, propelling him with equal speed to the other two.

Vince had a bad feeling in his gut and with a glance at his surroundings he knew this would be the last time he would have enough time and relaxation to appreciate the lands behind him as he rode towards hell on earth.

* * *

"We're in," Cid said with a gruff grunt into the radio at his hip. Vincent tapped his own gently, putting the volume down so that he could be as silent as possible during the raid. He and Cid were going into the thicket of the building. No doubt they would be in more danger than any of the other, treading around all manners of traps and Gaia knows what kind of escaped creatures within.

The ground under his feet shuddered for a moment but he easily kept his balance. The Pilot found his ass connecting with the ground a little too suddenly for comfort.

"What the hell was that?" he shouted.

There was a hiss of static before the report issued and a cool voice came up from the radios, "Machine activated. Twenty minutes until lower level portals open and thirty before the main portal opens to allow the impurities through. Forty-eight hours after that before the mainframe overloads and becomes dangerous."

Vincent blinked, "I wasn't aware that we had a time limit."

Cid growled, "I think they left that little tidbit out on purpose. No matter, this has gotta get done either which way, right?"

"Lets go."

* * *

"We're In."

"The Pilot and Ex-Turk made it in, Sir," a WRO agent informed him even though he heard it.

"Group 1 in contact with the entrance. We're in," Cloud said gently over the radio, voice soft and yet deadly.

"Group 2 clear. We have contact," Vince said, his voice cold, obvious that his mind set had changed from the fun loving young man to that dangerous man he met in the hallways. Rufus held back a smile as he thought about the improvements that would settle after all of this was done.

With his reputation back for having helped the world twice, once with the WRO funding during Deep Ground and now, along with the addition of two of history's best Turks, Rufus felt as though the dawn of his suddenly down turned life was coming quite soon. All they had to do was make it through the next forty-eight hours. He could do that, right? Two days…they would make.

He tried to ignore how his heart constricted with doubt at the thought.

* * *

_**And they are in!!! Yay! I updated! I'm so sorry guys! I was not only having trouble figuring how to fluidly move into the beginning of the end of this story but I got terribly sick the past couple of days. I didn't want to update and post something all cruddy 'cause I couldn't think straight, ya know? Once again, this wasn't spell checked. I'm too excited, I wanna post it ASAP so I hope you guys don't mind, it shouldn't be anything major.**_

_**Also, get ready for the next couple of chapters. I might need to up the rating…does it have to be M in order to have gore and violence? And death? Yeah, guys, get ready for A LOT of death coming up and a HUGE ASS PLOT TWIST! Don't stop reading! I promise, this is soooo going to be worth it!**_

_**LOVE YOU! XD**_

_**-Spazzy**_


	12. Bitter Beginnings

_Battle not with monsters  
lest ye become a monster  
and if you gaze into the abyss  
the abyss gazes into you._

FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE, _Beyond Good and Evil_

Chapter 12: Bitter Beginnings

She looked so very fragile in the man's arms. The fragmented crystal she was originally being held in had long since diminished, now just a pile of dust in a corridor somewhere. Deeper and deeper they took her; a beautiful woman bundled in a WRO agent's arms.

The agent holding her looked down at her face for the umpteenth time that day. So beautiful, inhumanly beautiful, heartbreakingly beautiful. How could a woman's skin glow as amazingly as hers did? How could a woman's skin be as soft as the finest skin and hold such a creamy parlor? Her dress, white and flowing and thin, flowing through his fingers like sand, drifting around them like a fabric caught in water as they walked.

"We're almost there," one agent said.

Then there was a shudder and a groan through out the complex, causing the group to pause at its strength. When the moment passed they looked at one another thoughtfully. A man with a more commanding look uniform spoke into a radio at his waist before looking back to the others, "The barrier was just activated, lets move, there isn't much time."

They began to pick up pace, hurrying through the halls of a mad man as they made their way to the chamber that they would store the chocolate haired beauty. Reaching the reinforced iron door the man holding her stepped forward. Gathering the woman a little tighter to his breast, he began to walk into the chamber towards the bed set up for her. Laying her gently upon the silk riddled bed much like one would put down a precious thing, he slowly took a few steps back, watching her as he exited the room.

Turning around to look at the others he sighed. The temptation that was rolling in his loans settled a bit now that he was not forced to hold her, to look upon her, to hear her breathe as he had to for the past half hour.

Taking a few precious moments to calm his nerves, he slowly looked up to his comrades only to see blanched faces. Brows drawn tight with worry and confusion, he looked them over curiously, "What is it?"

A man brought a shaking finger to point to something…something _behind_ him.

Too late.

A clawed hand pierced through the protective padding at his back, bit through skin and muscle and sinew straight to that way laid beneath, caressing his inner most organs made his flesh crawl. Too much stimulus, he screamed for what should have been pained but his brain shut down, the immense shock stopping his heart and rolling his eyes into his head.

Lifeless knees hit even colder ground and he was dead.

She merely smiled, her eyes glittering in an inhuman way, glittered like pink diamonds set into ivory skin. Blood made the skin so much paler, a small splotch so close to those full lips. A dart of pink as her tongue lashed out to greet the life substance and a toothy smile, as demented as it was beautiful.

"Hello boys, thank you so much for playing hero for me but…did my darling little Rufus care to tell you about the rather lethal cargo you carried?" she asked, her voice like a choir of angels, soothing their nerves before they could run and rendering them helpless, "Well, I will find purpose for you yet…right, my puppet?"

Her hand stroked the hair just below her fingertips, caressing the scalp of the recently deceased man. With JENOVA cells tainting his body, growing at a rate so fast within this place, she easily had control over the corpse, rendering the soulless shell completely to her will.

A moan broke from the dead agent's throat, loving and delirious in its want to please its master. Blood gurgled up for a moment before the cells healed all the wrongs she bestowed upon him, strengthening his muscles and returning life to his flesh.

With their wills bowing before her, slaves of the lust that leaped in their loans, they stood in line for the slaughter and rejoiced as they rose once more for their master, drinking in each caress she gave them like a beloved human among love starved dogs.

Pink glittered in the darkness and so did her startling grin, "I'm coming for you, Vincent Valentine."

* * *

Vincent's step faltered for a moment, if even that. The misstep was barely there but it had been enough to cause his eyes to widen as a short, brief and yet never ending image thrust itself into his head. 

_Blood, so much blood._

_The stone corridors were streaked with the read fluid as it dripping through cracks and seams in the stones._

_The purrs of men that were once human as they fondled the one in the midst of them. They did not grope her so much as press to her as close as possible, like dogs who would whine at the thought of losing her touch._

_A woman, her features unrecognizable amidst the numerous WRO agents and darkness but one thing rang clear in all of the turmoil. Boiling pink eyes, dazzling, captivating, endless and dead._

_"I'm coming for you, Vincent Valentine."_

_JENOVA…_

_"You. Are. Mine."_

"Vince, hey, you okay, Vamp?" Cid's gruff voice anchored him to reality and he was grateful for the escape from whatever had inched into his head.

_Chaos may have delayed the continued growth of her cells and my death but…they are still within me._

Forcing this new bit of information deep down into the void he nodded and motioned to continue. Down the hallways they traveled side by side, looking for the portal that would lead them to darkness much deeper than that which licked the hallways.

* * *

Another gunshot sprung to life in the corridor, ending a different one. A chilling screech pierced the air as life was slowly expelled from his victim. The thing before him was hideous; Nanaki identified it as a poor soul victimized by Hojo. He shivered to think that this was a man he was going to go out and protect back in his own time. 

He had heard snippets between the others and Vincent. He knew that Vincent…that he had a connection with Hojo in the future but he did not know what that connection could possibly be until now. Connecting the disturbing creatures with the scars, claw, harness and newly acquired form Vincent possessed, something called Chaos, he believed, he was beginning to make the connection. But why would Hojo do that? It wouldn't be a simple thing, to explain to ShinRa that one of their most valued Turks went missing on such a simple and easy assignment. There must have been motive, thick motive, to 'justify' this. Hojo may have been insane but he wasn't a fool. Judging by the thing he left behind, that much was evident.

He cast another weary glance to the creature before him, clad with a bullet in its brain. It had once been a dog, he guessed. The creature's features were worn down, as though it had decayed for a while for one reason or another. Yellow eyes, now thick with the film of death, were wide and demented…haunted. Course gray fur, falling out in patches in certain places, covered its body wherever the scales did not. Claws that scratched the floor because of their length adorned its worn and callous paws.

He never did like to kill…Veld had told him once that it was not wrong to mourn for the ones they killed. He was faintly aware of Yuffie and Red going on ahead, unaware of the mental debate taking over his mind.

"Such heartlessness…what did he do to you?"

He shook his head. _Why should I care, it was only a monster…_

But who said that it wanted to be a monster? And who was he to judge?

Was he a monster?

"_Vincent," she said his name like a precious thing, caressing baby soft cheeks as she did so. His mother was so lovely, so very lovely. _

_He raised his large red orbs to gaze at her._

_"What is wrong?" she asked, wiping away the tears that crept down his pearly skin._

_"I'm afraid…there is something in my room."_

_"What is in your room, Vinnie?" She asked, forever patient and loving and kind._

_"A monster."_

He shook his mind free of the doubts that plagued him and continued. Following Nanaki's fiery tail, he walked down the hallways of the complex. Continuing their journey westward they searched for the portal that opened for the Life Stream's purities. Occasionally a stray gunshot or the grind of blade against stone would ring out followed by a ghastly scream but the journey, for the most part, was quiet.

_"Vincent," she said, his name fluttering with her giggles, "I don't think a monster could possibly hide in your room."_

_He merely whimpered in reply, upset that she would not listen._

_"Ssh, Vincent. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings," she said, smoothing out his short hair gently and rubbing his wet cheeks with her thumbs, "Tell me about your monster, Vinnie."_

He heard a growl from behind him, a deep and inhuman thing. He stopped and slowly inched his head to look over his shoulder…nothing there.

_He shook his head; afraid to recount the ways it scared him._

They continued slowly, Yuffie in the front, Nanaki in the middle and Vince taking up the rear. Steady and calculated foot falls, the gently clip of Red's nails and breath.

Four breathes…four?

_"Its okay now, sweetie. Tell me."_

_"It had yellow eyes."_

His mind wandered back to what Cloud and Vincent spoke of. Bits and pieces he couldn't understand before and never bothered to try.

**Chaos.**

His footsteps ceased at that moment and his eyes were wide with revelation, one connection bringing out a flood of others.

_Yellow eyes. So dreadfully yellow and bright and consuming…his soul seemed to flicker at its intense staring._

_"Maybe a nightmare, Vincent?" his mother offered solace._

_No…not a nightmare. It was far too **real** to be a nightmare. Those yellow eyes still haunted him as though they were in the shadows of every crevice in the house. He tried to block away the thought, the memory, but it kept crawling back to him._

_The shadows of his room had suddenly grown so thick when his body thrust up from sleeping into reality, breathing heavy with effort from the heart stopping feeling that surrounded him. His body shivered violently as his gaze slowly caught the one watching him, red meeting amber in a frightful way._

_A scream was lodged in his throat but for one reason or another it could not come out, would not come out. He clutched his blankets tightly, so tight that his knuckles turned white and shook at the effort._

_White teeth began to shine in the icy blackness, glinting in a demented grin and past the feral look in its eyes Vincent knew it was intelligent. It was clever. It was dangerous._

_"One day you, a man among dogs, shall find me, a demon among men. Gaze into the Abyss…Fore I shall look back unto you."_

His breathing ceased and waited until the sounds of the other's faded up ahead.

"Kyuu, kyuu, kyuu…a fly has fallen into my web, how wonderful. I had you once; perhaps I might have you again? A toy to my experiments?" the voice made him shiver and bile rose up the muscles of his throat.

"Who's there?" Vince growled, turning on heal, gun cocked, ready to increase the pressure on his hairpin triggers at any time.

Only a creature stood before him…no, not a creature. It must have been human once. Drooling with morbid fascination, eyeing Vince as though he were food for the taking, it stood crouched on its haunches before him. It was lanky thing, this monster that was once a man. Its arms, long and bony and his shoulders were slumped, causing his painfully slender fingers and nails to scrap along the stony floor. His head was tilted; eyes uncomprehending beyond the basic survival instincts and his bright eyes showed him thusly, glinting madly in the darkness like the reflection a cat might have. Fangs, he could see fangs perched behind those slightly parted lips. His spine protruded from the skin of his nude back, nearly impaling him from the inside out. Torn fragments of clothing covered him from indecency but he probably didn't notice or care. A collar made of thick black leather rested around his slender neck, tangled into the brown matted hair that clung to his sweaty body. A small device was on the collar, probably serving for two purposes. Pain and surveillance.

"Good work, Turk. I was afraid you wouldn't be able to figure it out. So much like a dog, you are. A timid little plaything of ShinRa, a lapdog…Oh well, if the situation was explained to me correctly then you have yet to properly meet me, Valentine. I am an…acquaintance…of your future self. My name is Doctor Simon Hojo. I am a scien-" he was cut off.

"You're a bastard," Vince growled, his voice thick with a foreign hatred that stirred deep in the confines of his heart and for a moment, anyone nearby may have fancied that they saw his eyes glimmer with an amber glint, "A monster."

"Such kind words from such a foul mouth. Excuse the childish saying but it rings so true right now…takes one to know one, my little Turk. My little _Monster._"

"You're dead, soon to be twice over. Say your prayers now, Hojo, for you there will not be enough mercy to give you the time later," Vince growled.

"I have no heart for prayers, child, and there will be no need. She watches, She protects me; She is the only one worthy of my prayers. JENOVA," the name was spoken like that of a lover and it made Vince's stomach lurch.

"Go to hell."

Vince aimed.

"Battle not with monsters, Vincent Valentine, lest you wish to become a monster."

Cackling, a gunshot, a bullet that pierced the machine and went through the throat, hitting a thick and pulsing vein in its passage. Blood shot up like the wings of birds before fanning outwards to paint the walls with its life giving fluids. The jowls of the creature foamed, speckled with red, as it shuddered and gave way to death.

_"Do you know what a monster is, Vincent?" his mother asked._

He shook off the thought, unwilling to dwell longer in his mother's theories. No matter how 'terrifying' a monster was supposed to be…her theories scared him more. Not for what they were but what they meant for him directly…

He turned on heal coldly and began the long walk towards the light that dangled at the end of a tail.

* * *

"I can feel Her. She is so close now, brothers. So very close," he said, bringing his hand up and closing the leather-clad fist slowly. Tilting his head just a fraction of an inch he looked to the other two occupants in the room. 

A man with short silver hair and a lather outfit that could barely contain the muscles beneath, "She is here?" his voice was filled with a joy that didn't settle right with his look.

"Yes, Loz, Mother is here."

The other man sighed and rolled his eyes, leaning against the nearest wall with arms crossed, "Are you going to cry again, Loz?"

"Shut up!"

Kadaj merely ignored them both, if one looked at him just right he could be mistaken for a short haired Sephiroth and his voice demanded for such respect, "Yazoo, watch the East Wing, make sure no one tries to shut down the portal before He can come through. Loz, take the front. I'll go to the West Wing. I believe Big Brother has plans to head that way sometime soon."

Yazoo said nothing and with the flicker of his long silver hair he was gone, walking down the corridor and heading for his newest destination.

Loz looked to Kadaj before heading off for his own destination.

Kadaj caressed the hilt of his double bladed sword before looking to the portal they had just come through. He smiled, tracing metal of the machine before listening to its voice.

"**_Impurities 50 clear._**"

He listed the names off the top of his head, those who were already among the living now.

Kadaj, Loz, Yazoo, Hojo, and Lucrecia…no…JENOVA.

* * *

"Tifa! Look out!" Cloud shouted, rushing forward, steel dropped, to receive wound not meant for him. Staggering back a bit, he clutched at his shoulder as one of the creatures pulled back its claws. Blood rushed forward to greet the air as it trickled loosely from the wound. Tifa gasped. 

"Cloud! Heal!" she shouted the command, magic loosened its way from the materia and floated like a kiss upon the air, sewing the skin back together and stopping the blood flow.

Cloud nodded his thanks before dodging another attack and lunging backwards, grabbing for the hilt of his sword and thrusting it out with a swift yank as he flipped over it. Now armed once more, he rushed forward to greet the creature a final time. Plunging the cold steel of his blade through the creature's mouth as it came to bite him he pierced the soft flesh of the roof of its mouth and pushed the blade up to render the soft gray tissues raw. It's eyes rolled back into its head and with a bloody wheeze it fell, conquered, to the ground.

But it was a short-lived victory because there were more where that one came from, millions more in fact. Rushing away in different directions they continued. Tifa crushed the temple of a beast here. Barret riddled the flesh of another with bullets there. Cloud released his pent up energy from the battle there, a blue wave of energy disintegrating the monsters in its wake on contact.

Twisting his body just so, Cloud brought his blade up to meet the flesh of another creature, unable to gather enough time to look back at the victory from seconds before. On and on they battled, steel and gunfire and fist, but the effort seemed to get them nowhere.

"There's just too many of'em!" Barret yelled over the rapid fire of his gun arm and the tinkle of empty shells hitting the ground.

Cloud gathered enough time to pause, back peddling just so and looking over to the landing just a few breathes away, "Everyone, head for the Western staircase!"

"But…we're supposed to deal with the monsters here!" Tifa called back, torn between life and duty.

"We won't do much help if we get killed here. Wasting our supplies on the small fry ain't gonna help no one, Teef!" Barret roared, covering a small path so they could make their way to safety.

Cloud grabbed Tifa's wrist as he passed, half running half dragging her to the staircase, "Tifa, lets go!"

Tifa nodded and followed, rushing with the spiky haired blonde towards their only salvation. Reaching the steps she let herself take a breath as they rounded the corner of the hallway. Waiting for Barret, they stopped, prepared to close the doors as soon as he came.

Barret's heavy footfalls grew closer as he came and he stopped right at the doorway. Delivering one last rain of bullets he rushed through, diving in just as Cloud and Tifa slammed the doors closed. Pressing the weight against the doors, Cloud and Barret held the wood steady as numerous bodies and claws rammed it from the other side.

"Tifa, hurry!" Cloud called, urging her to find anything to keep the doors in place. Grabbing an iron rod she pressed it through the loop of the door handles, letting Barret finish it off by twisting the metal around it, making the doors an impassable thing for such unintelligent creatures. Dogs…they could've been dogs at one point or another. The unwanted mutts of the local animal shelter must have been shipped here for a quick death. A death that never came, it seemed.

The three made their way to a room off of the main hall before slumping down into the chairs they found there. All three were tired. Not exhausted, just weary of what the situation was. At any moment those doors could snap or the creature could find a different way to find them. Or even worse, creatures of a fouler kind could find them.

Cloud stood, unable to smother the jitters in his nerves. Pacing the room, he observed every nook and cranny it had to offer. Running a hand through his unruly hair he stood in the middle of the room. Looking over to Tifa he opening his mouth to say something. All he could manage was a surprised yelp as the floor opened up beneath him. With the slightest sensation of falling that nipped at his stomach, he watched Tifa with wide eyes as she jumped up to run to him before she rose out of sight and the darkness of the trap consumed him. Down and down he fell, watching as the trap door above began to close, destroying what little light he had, both physically and spiritually.

The icy waters the grabbed his body at impact knocked the air from his lungs. Down and down he went, deep into the waters. He fancied, for a moment, that he felt like Aeris. Tired, weary and yet peaceful in his watery tomb. Opening his beautiful blue orbs he gazed up through the murky water to the surface that seemed so very far away. Considering his options over he yielded to duty over rest and the hope that he would she her again. With a soft pang to his heart he realized that he didn't know who she was, Aeris…or Tifa?

Bunching his muscles he began the harsh journey upwards towards air, towards salvation and towards the darker perils that awaited him.

* * *

Vincent and Cid continued their path towards the Eastern Wing. Oddly, there was little to no monsters to confront them. But as they grew closer to their destination the reason why revealed itself to them. The air was so thickly contaminated by malice and darkness that Cid thought his smoked abused lungs would wither away under the pressure. Vincent, however, seemed unaffected. 

So side by side the two lung abuse victims, both for different reasons, made their way to the portal destined to be filled with all the dangers of their past.

"Lets find a way to pass the time, shall we?" Cid piped up.

"…"

Cid glanced to Vincent before chuckling at his comrade's loathsome face. He looked so utterly annoyed!

"I didn't mean a game of Yuffie's craft, Vincent. Damn, who do you think I am? I meant a simple conversation."

"The conversations you usually wish to invoke are never simple, Highwind, so I doubt whatever you have in mind is just a simple conversation."

_Ouch…_

"Well get over it, Vamp, 'cause I'm gonna ask you anyways," Cid growled, "What do you plan to do about your mini-you?"

Vincent seemed to taste his batch of answers before supplying one for his comrade, "There is only two ways to send him back, I would assume."

Cid glanced to him, "You plan on telling me about it?"

Vincent motioned for silence with the way of his hand and stopped. His muscles were taunt and alert.

Cid mirrored the reaction before glancing to Vincent with wide eyes, "Oh shit! Someone's coming," he snarled out a whisper.

"No," Vincent answered, "Someone is here."

A soft chuckle from behind made Cid's taunt muscles jump. Vincent slowly turned to look the long silver haired man in the eye.

"Yazoo."

"Vincent. Its been a while," he grinned slowly, a rarity of his personality but oddly necessary, "One of the only men worthy of a proper gunfight."

Cid merely looked between them, unaware that they had met twice before in a certain forest curtained with a beautiful white glow.

* * *

_**Whoo! That's all you get for now and its definitely not spell checked/edited!!! So here is a recap of what just happened:**_

_**JENOVA just possessed a bundle of people O.o…**_

_**Vincent knows about JENOVA.**_

_**Vince is kicking monster ass and suffering from flashbacks of his mother, which will explain more about what role is to come for him later!**_

_**Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo are on the loose.**_

_**Cloud is separated from Barret and Tifa, oh no-s!**_

_**Vincent and Yazoo are about to have a old fashion gun slinging fight to the death.**_

_**What will happen next?!?! -- Stay tuned and find out! Muwahahaha!**_

_**-Luffith**_

_**Spazzy **_


	13. Wouldn't Miss It

Chapter 13: Wouldn't Miss It

A flicker of lightening, a man made feat, dispersed through the barrel of Vincent's gun. One slug after another after another after another was issued from the barrels of Death Penalty and the Gun Blade that Yazoo carried.

"A new gun, Valentine? Or have you finally allowed your beast to take over?" Yazoo asked, obviously aware that the gun came with his transformation, a nuisance that started somewhere from the time that Sephiroth was first brought down by AVALANCHE and the start of Deep Ground's initial attacks.

"Something like that," he growled, twisting just so when a bullet came for him. Much like his battle with Weiss, his body adapted to an inhuman speed, allowing him to dodge with ungodly accuracy. But unlike then when he had bonded with Chaos' powers, his body was stronger, taller, and made for a speed his body never could have obtained before. His fingers moved with a speed that threatened to jam his gun. He hoped that wouldn't be the case. The loss of the gun Lucrecia gave to him would truly be a sad loss.

Yazoo's abilities did not seem to be affected by death, his movements still quick in a manner that toped 90 of the enemies Vincent had ever gone up against. The hall proved to be an ill place to fight, making maneuvering a hard and almost impossible thing to do.

Yazoo aimed and pressed the trigger once more, the shot going wide just as Vincent dipped low to the left and rushed forward, twisting his gun and bring the butt of it up into Yazoo's thin jaw. A distinct taste of copper flooded his mouth and he was faintly aware of the healing already taking place thanks to his newly acquired JENOVA cells. Before he did have mother's cells, yes, but now she had given him a new set, fresh and more powerful than his old ones. The replacement cells made his blood sing with a healthy fire, making him feel more alive than ever. That didn't improve his mood though…

Yazoo wiped at the blood dribbling down from his lip and fired with his gun hand. A shot finally connected. With a satisfyingly dull sound, Yazoo grinned as he watched Valentine get kicked back by the shot. Unable to dodge at such a close range, Vincent was thrown a few feet from the force of the slug now perched deep in his right shoulder, stopping the mobility of his gun hand.

He groaned and was pushing himself off of the ground just as a shadow flickered across the floor, a sign that Yazoo had taken to the air. With a swift motion that made the pain in his arm flare, Vincent twisted up and to his feet just before the blade of Yazoo's gun could bite his flesh, sinking instead into the now splintered wood of the floor.

Yazoo pulled free of his crouch, bring the gun up with him, and eyed Vincent with a cross of amusement and respect, his voice a dull and taunting thing, "What surprises do you have for me now, Valentine?"

Vincent moaned with pleasure, a sound that shocked his pain riddled brain. The new combination of Chaos cells with his body instantly begin to flare into motion, rippling through his muscles and just under his skin in a way that caused pleasure to ripple down his spine. He shivered and tried to cover it up. _Since when did healing tickle?_

He bit his inner lip to hold it in as the pleasure rooted deep into his shoulder and began to push the slug out of his body, knitting up the wound as it did so. This was going to be distracting, Vincent could tell. A dismal sink in his stomach was all he had time to register as far as dread went before Yazoo burst into action once more.

_Right…left…no, right…_Yazoo was never in one place longer than a matter of seconds, constantly moving, keeping Vincent on his toes. He didn't even have time to worry about Cid's location as he twisted to punch at the breath now behind him at his neck. The quick flurry of movement was stopped as hands caught up with his neck. Despite the difference in height Yazoo lifted him from the ground, strangling him with a smug grin.

Can't…breathe… 

Red eyes peered passed nearly closed lids. He gasped, a wheezy noise that could barely escape due to the pressure at his windpipe. If possible those brilliant red eyes gleamed with a fierce vengeance, glowing to the point that it stung Yazoo's eyes to gaze into him and for a moment Yazoo wondered, with a sinking feeling, if Chaos was really dead. Or was the man before him just a demon in disguise?

Vincent could feel it, power surging just under his skin, licking across muscle and sinew, lighting his blood on fire. If he didn't know better he would say that Chaos was trying to gain control of his body. But Chaos was gone and the power that was left behind was now all his own.

Reaching slowly his benumbed fingers searched for the new and strangely familiar grip of one of his twin guns. Pulling out the ebony barrel and directing it with a flash of motion at Yazoo's head he fired, once, twice, thrice, before he was released.

Yazoo staggered back with a godforsaken pain waving out from the holes in his right eye, jaw and forehead. Groaning he began to fall backwards, dead before he even registered he was shot. With a chilling thump Yazoo fell to the ground, sprawled on his back, a red halo beginning to frame his head, tainting his ivory skin and silver locks.

Vincent took deep steadying breathes, staring down at the face of a boy who could have had a normal life if the JENOVA infection had been stopped when the experiments started so very long ago…was this boy like this because of what he couldn't stop? Vincent shuddered, feeling a vice constrict around his heart. He had hoped that the 'sins' that plagued his mind for so long had dulled within his mind but…

_I can't stop thinking, if I could have stopped this so long ago, how many things would be different? How many lives would be saved?_

He suddenly felt a touch at his shoulder. Muscles and tissue tightened to an unbelievable degree under Cid's simple touched. Obviously, Vincent was still in survival mode. Drawing his hand back so as not to startle his friend, Cid began to walk in the direction they were originally headed.

"He's dead, Vince…Lets go."

"But," Vincent said low under his breath, more to himself than to Cid, "If Yazoo is back then the weapon has already released some of the souls from the Life Stream…How many others are there, I wonder…"

They begin to walk away from the lone corpse. Vincent stepped over the silver haired boy with cautious care, being respectful to his remains. With their backs to the dead thing, they never could have noticed the sudden opening of one last remaining eye, glowing pale green in the darkness of the hall as his muscles began to reform. Yazoo held back a mirth filled laugh.

Those weren't the only pair of mirth filled eyes watching the pair either.

* * *

He was so cold. Icy finger seemed to be constantly caressing his skin like the touch of a lover. Too bad the touch was so unpleasant. His vision spun again and with a sickening lurch of his stomach he staggered to the right, leaning heavily against the wall once he reached it. 

Harsh breath clouded into a misty fog around his mouth, warming his face for a moment before the moisture made the chilly air ten times worse. Clutching uselessly at his shoulder he attempted to slow the bleeding. A trail, blazing red, was left behind him…at least he wouldn't get lost if he needed to go back. Not that he wanted to.

His mind wandered back to what he left behind, what had torn into his shoulder and left the multiple sting cuts on his body. The creature made him want to empty the last of the acids in his stomach all over the disgusting watery concrete. Holding his stomach in check, he wiped at the cold sweat accumulating on his brow and forced himself to continue, closing his eyes tight to block out the memory.

_So hideous, so…cruel._

_The body was barely past his hips…thin and lanky and unbelievably strong for its size. Skin stretched horrendously over bone, claws that ran across the ground as it walked forward, reconstructed bone configuration. Fangs, blood smeared face…so pale, so very pale._

_That wasn't what disturbed him._

_Its _eyes_…blue and strong…Despite the blood and gore inspired actions he could see the eyes of a young boy. A young boy who had seen things not even a grown man should see. A young boy, probably no older than ten… A young boy stuck in his body, a body no longer under his control. A small glimmering red light at the back of his neck told Cloud everything he needed to know._

_But those eyes…of everything he had ever seen, Cloud knew he would never erase those eyes from his nightmares. That boy…had been ready, no, had been _pleading_ for death._

_A child shouldn't have to plead for death!_

"Hojo, you bastard…for what you've done, now and before…I swear, I will kill you or at least aid in the act of you death!" Cloud growled, a pathetic whisper of pain and anger.

He paused, hearing ragged breathing behind him. Every muscle tightening before releasing with weary exhaustion and a thought ran through his head for a fleeting moment. _If I can make it, that is._

He turned and nearly released a sorrowful howl of anguish. Another. There was another!

Beautiful sea foam green eyes…they screamed just one thing.

_"Please! Please! Run!"_

Cloud reached up for his sword and saw the anguish in the child's eyes.

_The child is afraid…not for his own life._

He felt his throat swell closed with emotion.

_He's afraid for me._

The child rushed him at that moment and Cloud thrust his blade to life, a silver arc against a dark blur.

* * *

Dark chuckling. That's the only thing she could truly register, a dark and mirth filled chuckling that filled the large dining hall she stood in. She knew that voice and was none too pleased to have to hear it again. 

Barret turned on heal and aimed his gun arm at the silver haired demon, "Don't move, you bastard!"

Tifa got into a ready position, all too familiar with the speed of the shorthaired brother to bother with the pride of her skill, "Loz."

Loz grinned and extended his arms out as if to welcome them with a warm hug…a hug that could probably snap both of their spines, "Don't you want to play?"

Both of the AVALANCHE members growled, their stances growing tighter as they gave the man before them their undivided attention.

Loz smirked, if possible, more than before, "Good."

Then he was gone.

Barret let out a startled gasp at the sudden disappearance and didn't get a chance to finish his breath before he was knocked shoulder first into the stomach. With a bile filled grunt he sailed through the air, destroying at large piece of wall at the far end of the run before falling to the ground with a floor shaking thump.

"Barret!" Tifa shouted, diving out of the way a second afterwards as a fist came crashing down upon her.

"Eyes on me, sweetheart," Loz laughed, his voice filled with childish glee.

"Fine!" Tifa said, twisting, gaining momentum from the dive before twisting back onto her hands, pushing upwards and shouting up, using the strength of her upper body to straighten her form into a hand stand, pull backwards and thrust her legs up into Loz's chin, sending him flying and giving her the solid feeling of the floor back under her feet. She grinned with pride.

Loz pulled himself out of the hole the impact had created for him in the wall before a bullet slammed into his left arm, followed by several others.

Barret was up and back in the action.

Loz growled, suddenly angered by the new odds, before the anger subsided to excitement. This would be interesting, he finally deduced, before rushing forward and slide tackling Barret's legs out from under him.

With a startled yelp, Barret crashed once more to the ground before he found a body pinned the barrel of his arm to his chin, "Fire now, Trigger Boy."

Barret struggled uselessly in the grasp just as a punched sailed clean into Loz's nose. There was the sickening sing of snapping bone and the fling of red fluids as the nose broke under the pressure and squirted its blood over Barret and Tifa's knuckles.

Tifa didn't hesitate to take the pain filled moment to her advantage. Throwing her upper body downward she caught herself enough to start a back flip, kicking painfully up Loz's body as she did so. She mentally tallied her hits as she went along, _thigh, groin, gut, upper ribcage, neck, and forehead. _

Loz let out a pain filled holler as he brought his hands up, caught between the decision to cup his abused lower body or to mend the broken and profusely bleeding nose.

Barret filled in after Tifa, bringing his barrel down to the silver haired giant's temple and releasing several rounds into the being's kneecaps.

Another scream and Loz's body plummeted down to the ground, calves almost completely separated from the thighs thanks to numerous holes that riddled his bleeding knees. If he didn't die from shock he would die from blood loss. Either way, AVALANCHE had won.

Barret grinned a smug grin, "That's right you Mama-loving bastard. Go tell that bitch of an alien that she's next!"

Tifa rolled her eyes, "Barret, finish it before he can heal!"

"Too late."

She didn't even register it as she felt a body behind her, her neck pressed into the crook of a muscular arm and strangled. Lifted up from the air, Tifa kicked at the body behind her useless, gasping for air. _It's only been seconds! How did he heal!_

"Mother will not let me die. You'll pay for your insults to Mother!" Loz screamed, voice filled with the innocence of a child protecting its mother.

Tifa was released as several clips safely bypassed her head to shatter the skull behind her. Or at least, the bullets should have done that but unfortunately the slugs never connected. The wall behind her was riddled with holes and the men in front of her had stopped their movement. The black man she had come to love like a brother stared at her with wide eyes. Blood bubbled up from his mouth as he slowly looked down to the hand penetrating his gut from behind.

"Marlene…"

Tifa screamed out her friend's name, as if the simple action could stop time itself. As if screaming his name would fix the gaping wound she could clearly see through or kill the silver haired monster behind him.

"You're next!" Loz screamed.

Tifa's eyes lingered on the fall of her friend and she dimly was aware that the fall felt like it was taking forever. She dreaded what she knew was going to follow. The battle in the Main Hall had drained her and Barret both of their supplies. Cloud had two cures left but he wasn't here and even if he were, they probably would've been used before this moment anyways.

Anger filled her body as though it were as vital as the very blood that fueled her. Her eyes never left the giant corpse of Barret Wallace.

"…No."

"He's dead, but don't worry. You'll see him soon."

Her eyes flashed, "No."

She drew out a piece of Materia that even the Materia Thief herself yearned for. Something the man of her heart had given to her.

_"This will protect you if I ever cannot. I'll always be with you, Teef. I won't let anything happen to you, I promise. We're going to get married. We're going to be happy."_

That's what he had said to her just before they left to go to the base, before it was confirmed that Vincent was dieing, before the future of the world was once more being threatened.

_Why can't things be like in the storybooks? We saved the world…why can't we just have our 'Happily Ever After' now?_

The Master Summon. A Materia of legend, thought to just be a story. 'Happily Ever After' might be a concept only relevant in stories but this was real. She tightened her grasp of the orb to prove it.

Yep, the bite in her palm told her it was real. She prepared to use the Materia only to be knocked to the ground a few feet away. With her concentration broken, the spell ended before it could be used and a bit of her energy slipped away. If this kept up Loz would just keep hitting her until she lost all the energy she had left.

She prepared the spell again, trying to speed the process along in anyway possible but it was no use. With a scream of pain she was thrown once more across the room. Again she tried. Again and again and again and each attempt ended with the same result.

She wanted to cry out in frustration but she was stronger than that. She wouldn't reduce herself to such a pathetic level. Loz grinned at her frustration.

"You're so fun to play with, girlie. Too bad Kadaj told me to finish you. It would be so fun to bring you along. Then I could play with you anytime I want."

She nearly threw up all over her shoes at the thought. Almost.

She snorted, "I'd rather die."

"That's good 'cause that's what's gonna happen," he responded.

Tifa didn't let her eyes wander, not wanting to ruin the moment, "Something like that."

Loz tilted his head before he growled with anger at the feel of blood soaking him from behind and two strong arms twisting around him from behind. Barret wouldn't die so easily.

"Now, Teef!"

"Playtime's over, asshole!" Tifa screamed, plunging into her store of magic and pushing every ounce of it into her spell. With a tingling sensation she felt the connection. Power pulsed under her fingertips and summoned forth a force to be reckoned with.

Every summon she had ever met along her travels came forth once more to aid her. Every kind of attack, everything from fire to hail to wind to the fiery zaps of electric licks…Hell rained down upon them. Tifa watched with hope and with sorrow as her enemy and her comrade faced the power of limitless power.

It was oddly beautiful, the attacks that came forth from the numerous spiritual beasts but soon that thought slipped away from her.

**_"We'll allow you to speak with him one last time, child," _**the summons spoke to her kindly, a gentle whisper in her head.

Through the heat of the seemingly ceaseless attack her eyes connected with those of Barret Wallace. Her heart wrenched with every pain filled twitch of his body, every spattering of blood, every tear of flesh and pride welled in her as she noticed that through it all, Barret had not released Loz. He would make sure that this was the end, even if the cost was his own life.

Then, suddenly, all of that was gone…and all there was left was his eyes and hers. The noise, the pain, and the attacks…everything around them faded away as they spent one last moment together.

_"Teef…" He said gently. She had the damnedest impression that Barret was hugging her._

_"Barret…I'm so sorry."_

_"I don't want none of the crap now, Tifa. You listen to me, you listen good. You go find Cloud and the others. Go stop this f---ed up mess and you save that scrawny vampire's ass, you hear me? You go stop JENOVA and all the other lunatics. Save this world 'cause I sure as hell ain't gonna be there to see the sun rise on that morning. Save this world for my baby girl, 'kay?"_

_Tifa let out a pain filled sob and yet the action never met her body. Tears streamed down from her eyes but the pain never found voice, words did instead, "I will, Barret. Your death won't be in vain."_

_"Promise me you'll take care of Marlene? And tell her how much I love her? How sorry I am?"_

_She nodded, "Yeah," her voice was strained now._

_"Don't look at me like that, Teef. Everything's gonna be just fine, you'll see. I trust them, Vincent and Vince. They'll figure this out. And I know Cloud and the others won't let all them idiots from the past get'em down. You make sure to make it through this, Teef. One step in front of another…get married, I'll make sure to be there, 'kay?"_

_She smiled at that, "Promise?"_

_He smiled and she was faintly aware that outside of this moment the attacks were stopping and that he and Loz were beginning to fade into nothingness, small spirals of spiritual color returning to the Life Stream. He was fading…leaving her…_

_In a few moments that world would no longer know of the man named Barret Wallace…all there would be left was stories and eventually, with time, that would die away too. Barret Wallace…would be gone._

_He smiled and for a moment she forgot everything. She felt as though she were back at the bar, sitting on the well known front steps next to the burly black man, watching the two kids they had come to love play in the front with others while they chatted happily. She was happy. She turned to look at him, sitting on those steps, and leaned into his hand as he brushed the tears from her cheek, his voice was slow and calm and soothing, he was ready to move on. She could tell._

_He would be sorrowful, she knew he didn't want to leave Marlene or Denzel or any of the others but she also knew he was ready to make that sacrifice if he needed to._

_"I wouldn't miss it for the world Teef."_

_Tears flooded from her eyes with renewed vigor._

_His voice was fading now, as was the image of him, "Bye, Teef."_

She opened her eyes and dragged herself to the place Barret had died. His body was no longer there but she lay there anyways. She lay there and mourned for the loss of her friend and the thought that it might have been for nothing.

Over and over she whispered to him as if he were still there, "I'm so sorry."

_I'm sorry I couldn't save you…I'm sorry that I might not be able to hold that promise. But I'll try, Barret. I promise I'll try._

She let exhaustion take over her, uncaring to the monstrosities of the complex, and welcomed unconsciousness with open arms.

_Rest in peace, Barret Wallace. You will be missed._

She thought it just as darkness claimed her, afraid that she wouldn't have the chance to say so in the future.

…If there was one.

* * *

**Sorry guys, I know its short but this really felt like where it should stop. I know exactly what is going to happen next but when I was about to type it up, it felt like it destroyed the importance of this chapter. So…I didn't want to rub Barret's death into the background. Don't worry though; a lot of action is about to come up soon. Hope you guys liked it and once again, it isn't spell checked.**

**Keep in tune! You'll be surprised, if nothing else, by what will happen in the coming up chapters, I already have all of them outlined and ready, just gotta give them the Spazzy touch and write'em up.**

**Write me!**

**-Spazzy**


	14. Joyful Reunion

Chapter 14: Joyful Reunion

"It should be just around the corner now…"

Vince drew the corner tightly, firearm raised in case of a sudden attack. He paused, waiting for movement before signaling that a-okay to the others behind him, "All clear."

Yuffie and Red stormed forward, keeping close as they turned the corner and entered the room Vince had checked. Vince came in right behind.

They checked the room, taking the time and the clear space as a short reprieve. The monsters had grown in number as they drew closer to the portal, obviously trying to guard something they feared would be used against them. Vince rummaged through the files and shelves in the room, the room appearing to be a waiting hall to the office or lab just beyond the sealed tight doors. Smiling he placed the round of clips he found into a pocket in his pants.

With the numerous attacks they had faced on the way there, Vince's supply on bullets was dwindling, Yuffie's blade was growing dull and Red was tiring. They were all tiring.

"Find anything, Mini-Vamp?" he twitched at the nickname, something both heartwarming and ceaselessly annoying. He didn't know if he wanted to smile at the ninja or strangle her. Maybe he could do both?

"Found some clips for my gun, nothing useful besides that."

Nanaki let out a rough sigh, "I was hoping we would find a few Potions or something helpful. Lets pray to the Planet that there aren't any more creatures waiting behind that door to protect the portal…" he left things unsaid but everyone knew what was on his mind.

They were going to open that door and one of two options was going to happen.

A, they would open the door and would be greeted by an empty room ready to help them in their quest to get their friends from the Life Stream or…

B, they would open the door, find a huge monster, fight the monster and probably die from the effort.

They were tired, there was no if ands or buts.

"Guess we can't dance around the issue any longer. I'll open the door and check to see if the coast is clear. If it isn't then I want you two to get back and run to go get Cloud and the others to help out later, I'll hold them off," Vince said, his voice and mind now completely locked in mission mode. His team came first back in the Turks and he certainly hadn't changed.

"What are you thinking?! You die and the whole time line might get screwed to hell! If you weren't a good soldier I would say that Cloud and Vincent were idiotic to take the risk and bring you! You go in there and face whatever is there alone and you will die and then what will happen, hmm? I'll go, that's that," Yuffie screeched, crossing her arms at the end for good measure.

"But-"

"-Yuffie has a good point, Vince. However, I can't let you do this, either of you. I'll fight, it's my duty to protect the Planet."

Vince groaned and put his tired head in his hands, tugging at the bangs of his hair in frustration before sighing, "Fine, we all go or we don't go at all."

The fire cat and young girl looked at each other uneasily before nodding, "Fine."

They prepared to infiltrate the room that might be the last room they ever step into again.

He closed his eyes.

_Breathe in…breathe out…_

* * *

Cid looked back to his partner for the umpteenth time since they had gotten rid of Yazoo. He was worried. If Yazoo had been able to hold long enough to attack Cloud again after he should've died, wouldn't he do the same now? He repressed a shudder and looked to Vincent.

Vincent had more silent then usual, to the point that he hadn't said a single thing when he shot a clip right past Cid's ear to kill a monster…without any warning. Cid had nearly had a heart attack. After a few choice words he had given up getting the gunsmith to talk for a while. But that while was over. According to the information given to them in the briefing, they should be close to their 'checkpoint' of sorts.

"Yo, Vince. What's buggin' you so badly?" Cid asked gruffly, his breath hanging like a cloud in front of his face. The air had become incredibly cold since the battle. He rubbed his arms to get the seemingly frozen blood moving.

"…"

"Seriously, Vince, I'm being to think that if we were ever in one of them games back home, you would have those idiotic 'dot dot dot' lines, ya know? Nobody enjoys wasting time reading 'dot dot dots'…you even listening to me?" Cid barked.

"…"

"Vincent…"

"Would please silence yourself, Highwind? I hear something and you're making it near impossible to catch."

"Hey!" everything Vincent had said then caught up and he stiffened, _Yazoo…_

Vincent stopped for a moment his body tense and alert. Cid looked to him and felt not just a little intimidated. Sometimes he had to remind himself that Vincent was still Vincent. Sure, Vincent had been tall before but at least he had been…well…he looked like a good breeze would snap him in half. If not for the cloak, Cid would've thought that the man never ate, let alone had muscles. Vincent had proved otherwise later but _now?_ The man was taller than ever and had an inhuman power residing in his muscles.

…_So why is he so freaked?_

"Vincent…you okay?"

His eyes looked absolutely livid, blazing with a nearly yellow fire, "I said to-" he was cut off by a blur of silver and thrown into the wall. At the contact and pressure the wall crumbled into a blaze of smoke and dust, sending Vincent tumbling through.

Cid stood there with wide eyes for a moment, taking in the scene and the completely unscathed Yazoo standing before him until his voice finally caught up with him, "Vincent!"

…_Nothing. No response…_

Cid was about to rush to the room when he felt the back of a hand rush to greet his jaw. The force behind the blow was unbelievable and it sent his head rocking on his neck almost to a fatal point. He crashed down into the floor with a deadly speed, unconscious before the floor could truly greet him.

_Vincent…don't you dare die you stupid Vampire._

* * *

The three stumbled in quickly, each on the ready to let loose whatever attacks their mangled bodies could provide now. All three slowly took in the glowing room, the swirling portal, and the two figures working on the control panel.

A woman with long brown hair tied bang in a long spiraling tail turned when she heard them enter, surprised at first and then beaming with a beautiful smile, "Red! Yuffie! Vince! We've been waiting for you!"

"…"

"Gods! Aeris, you scared us! We were afraid you would be another monster! Not like it matters, of course, 'cause I'm the Great Ninja Yuffie!" Yuffie said, trying to put on her normal greeting parade but fatigue left her a bit halfhearted.

Aeris giggled, "Sorry guys. We were working on shutting this down for you. Did you get anywhere, Zack?"

That's when the other finally noticed the other standing before them. A man with dark brownish gray spiked locks, kind of like an exaggerated style of Cloud's haircut, just longer and droopy. His grayish purple eyes were warm and just like Aeris; the feeling that came off him was happy and warm.

"Naw, didn't get anywhere yet but I'm close. The portal'll be closed soon."

Yuffie nodded and rightfully plopped down where she stood, exhausted and ready to take a break. Likewise, Nanaki did the same. Aeris smiled and walked up to the two, kneeling before them individually and healing them. When she was down she turned to look at Vince, "Hey, do you want me to heal your wounds too…Vince?"

He didn't hear her. Lost in the beauty of the portal Vince could hear nothing else but he Life Stream's song. It caressed his cheek with an alluring effect. Beyond the portal was something that looked much like an ocean, the middle ground between the Life Stream and the living realm.

"Close your eyes, Vinny…don't worry, I'm here. I won't let that monster get you…" "Do you know what a monster is, Vince?" 

"_If anything, Vincent…you should pity monsters."_

He began to step forward when he felt a hand at his shoulder, snapping him out of his reverie.

"Whoa, I know its tempting, Man, but you die and we all die," the man, Zack, said softly, looking intently into his eyes with his soft purple orbs, "You should rest, you're safe now…

"…No monsters here, man. You're safe."

"_No monsters here, Vinny. You're safe."_

His red and exhausted eyes rolled back behind closed lids, he was faintly aware of being caught and lowered down gently.

"Vince!"

* * *

Vincent groaned as he tried to regain some sort of consciousness. His form was pressed deep into a wall, smashed in deep and confined into motionlessness. He could feel the power lent to him by Chaos stitching his wounds, both external and internal, back together. Blood dripped down from his messy black hair, trailing down his face and into his eye. He blinked, trying to stop the stinging.

"Vincent!" Cid shouted from the hallway. He may have been out of sight but the loud sound that followed was all he needed to know that Cid had been knocked out by Yazoo, hopefully nothing more than that…

He heard Yazoo turn on heal to face the large hole in the hallway, stepping through and getting closer to the indent on the far wall that Vincent was lodged into.

"Did you honestly think you could defeat me? Mother would never allow it," Yazoo said calmly, his voice touched with amusement and malice.

Yazoo stopped when he was right next to the crumpled form of the Ex-Turk. Kneeling down he reached with one gloved hand, clenching mercilessly when those long fingers curled into Vincent's deep black locks. Tugging none too gently, Yazoo forced the dazed man to look at him. It looked as though those green Mako eyes were searching for something but for what, Vincent didn't know.

"I don't know why Mother wants you so badly, Demon…she wants you to become our _Father…_ I wonder why she thinks that _you_ are worthy…" Yazoo said just under his breath, giving Vincent's hair another good tug for measure before throwing his head down.

"You're weak. You're not worthy of her love! You _fight_ her love, so why? Why? Why?" Yazoo asked aloud, pacing the room, "Do you have the answers, Demon? Does anyone?"

"Why don't you ask _her?_" Vincent finally managed to snarl, his eyes flashing.

Yazoo stopped to glare at him, considering what he said and formulating what he should do. A moment passed and the flicker of a grin brushed over his expression, "Shall we go and ask together, _Father?"_

"Don't call me your Father –argh!" Vincent let loose a howl of anguish as a new sensation crept into his mind. It was as though fingers, thousands upon thousands of fingers, were combing through his mind, his very soul…searching…searching…searching…

His lurched up, his spine arching and his eyes wide, seeing something else besides his surroundings. His mouth made the formation to scream but nothing came, just an expression of soundless agony as he suffered through the moment.

_"Do you want to be a Father, Vincent?"_

Vincent found himself being hurled into the days of long ago.

_"Hmm?" He responded, looking away from the window he was gazing through to set his sights upon a beautiful woman in a lab coat._

_"Daydreaming again? You're supposed to be on guard at all times, right Turk?" She scolded him, a smile pressing her face, unable to conceal her sarcastic joke. A smooth chuckle escape from his throat._

_"Seems that you've caught me," he said, his voice smooth and sly, "I am at your mercy."_

_The woman smiled at that, her eyebrows raised in amusement and curiosity, "Completely at my mercy? Whatever shall I do with you then, hmm?" she edged closer, bringing her lips just a breath away from his._

_His eyes connected with her, garnet and caramel. That was all they needed. Just that moment, being together. He caught her by the hand and drew her closer, connecting their lips. Soft petals, her lips reminded him of soft petals. The curtains, thin and nearly a translucent white, fluttered in the breeze, grazing over them like a blanket. For a moment they weren't in the stuffy ShinRa manor but in another place altogether. _

_They breathed into each other, sharing each other's life for a moment. They were one…for a moment._

_Finally they broke apart and she melded her form to his, leaned gently against him and resting her head on his chest. Both looked out into the window, looking down at the courtyard slowly being covered by the fall of cherry blossoms and other freshly bloomed leaves, blowing away in a dance caused by the upcoming storm._

_She never looked at him, nor did he glance to her when she finally spoke once more, "Do you want to be a Father, Vincent?"_

_His hand curled into hers and his voice rumbled softly in his chest, causing her heart to flutter, "Yes, I do want to be a Father. I wish I could the child's Father…" _

_Her heart ached as he pressed his free hand to the soft skin of her stomach, "I wish you were the child's Father too…maybe you still could be?"_

_Vincent finally looked down at her to find her face tilted up to see him as well. Her eyes were warm and hopeful, searching, reaching for him so that maybe, together, they could escape the hell they had been ensnared in._

_"Run away with me, Vincent."_

His scream finally connected with his expression as his soul suddenly was thrown back into the pain of his body. Tears rimmed his crimson eyes as he let lose a howl so sorrowful and filled with pain and anger that it might've been classified as animalistic. The rawest of a human's screams, instinctive and true.

"Didn't like that too much, did you, _Father?_ You know, Mother took on that woman's form just for you? So that you would be comfortable with the role you are destined to play."

"I didn't ask for this."

"Regardless it is the role you shall play!" Yazoo yelled and sent his power surging at Vincent once more, clawing deeper into his mind for the memories that might give him the time he needed to get Vincent to Mother.

Vincent felt another onslaught of fingers attack his memories, painfully throwing him back into the past once more.

"_Do you remember him, Vincent? This used to be your partner…"_

No! Not that Memory!

**_Plit. Plit. Plit._**

_"Well? Answer me, Turk. Do you remember him?" Hojo asked with his hawkish voice, annoying and chilling. Utterly insane…he was utterly insane!_

_**Plit. Plit. Plit.**_

_Oh how he tried to block out the image above him! Oh how he **tried**__to close his eyes and forget about the man he knew. Above him was his partner, chained a few feet above, dangling by a network of chains and bleeding freely. Right underneath the body, just a few feet down, was a operation table drilled into the floor. Vincent lay on this table, shivering despite his white blouse and navy blue pants, shoes, gloves and jacket gone. He tried to get off the table but thick leather straps keep more than just in place, it kept him from moving._

_**Plit. Plit. Plit.**_

_Blood dripped with an irritating and random pattern onto his forehead, his right cheek, his collarbone, right hand, left thigh, stomach and just above his heart. Each drop made him flinch, made his mind scream from his body to brush it away and yet he could not. His skin crawled as the thick crimson fluid of his partner trickled so horribly slow, down, down, and down. Tracing patterns on his skin that he couldn't wash away. He had been sitting here for hours it felt like, maybe days. The reek of the dead body above him made him sick, his empty stomach clenched and unclenched systematically._

_"They sent your partner a few days ago when your reports stopped coming in. Honestly, I had forgotten about that. It was easy enough to trick him though. Turks aren't all that bright…never were," Hojo babbled as he paced around the table, circling Vincent, tampering with machines here and there, tracing cutting tools with slim bony fingers and finally settling on a syringe. He brought it up to eyelevel._

_"I simply had him look out of a window for just a moment and "bam!" I jabbed him with a syringe filled with a potent sedative. From there experimentation was easy. Don't worry; I'll be handling the reports for both of you. I'm just about to file you both MIA."_

_Vincent finally croaked out to him, angered and not just a little peeved by the man, "MIA? Missing in Action? What could possibly happen down here that they would actually believe other than you went out of your f-ing mind, Hojo? They won't be fooled. They'll come."_

_"Such an optimist, I never would've guessed. Thought you are so happy-go-lucky now that you have Lucrecia…well…**had** Lucrecia. She **changed** you and now it will be all the more fun to throw you back down to the level you deserve to be on. No one loves you. You're a monster."_

_Vincent didn't respond, deciding to ignore him._

_Hojo grabbed him angrily by the jaw by this, shaking him roughly and causing him to look at his comrade above him. Those wide unseeing eyes…that horrified face…**my fault…**_

_"You **are** a monster. **My **monster."_

"No!" Vincent screamed, his eyes glazing over slowly as he finally grasped onto reality once more. His throat ached with a vengeance but he barely noticed. He faintly noticed he was wet. Looking down he caught sight of the blood soaking his clothing, clotting and staining the floor in a huge puddle of scarlet.

"Look, you've dirtied the floor. Mother will be none too pleased," Yazoo laughed, taking in red liquid dripping along his knife.

"What—what are you doing to me?" Vincent growled, unable to get past a gruff whisper.

Yazoo sighed and flicked his blade, "Another round, shall we?"

Vincent's scream, if possible, was louder than ever before. The scream of a dying man.

* * *

Vince writhed on the floor, dreaming of a woman and dreaming of a comrade he knew. _Oh Gods! What is wrong with me?_

He couldn't move, he couldn't breathe and he couldn't escape the dreams that he was ensnared in. _Is this what Vincent was talking about? Is **this** my future? _

He was in pleasant darkness for the moment, floating among nothingness as he awaited the next memory to plague him. Or was this all just a dream of his own craft?

_Darkness…so much darkness._

What now?

_He lifted one hand up slowly, his limbs numb with the passing effects of a powerful sedative. His hand instantly brushed against something solid and unyielding. Wood. _

_Panic seized his heart in moments. The organ struggled to keep up as his blood raced, panic and fear driving the sedative out of his system and forcing his limbs into movement. Over and over and over he pounded upon his prison. Pressing upon the wooden thing above him and pressing to his sides as he tried to wiggle free._

"_What is this? Oh Gods! No!" Vincent panicked, pressing, thrashing, doing anything he could and failing to get free._

"_Where am I?!" _

_**You are in a coffin deep below the ShinRa Manor. Surely you must now this, Vincent.**_

_Vincent froze, "Who's there?"_

_Another voice, deeper and gruffer than the last, spoke, a hint of insanity behind it, giving him the feeling it would be something from his nightmares, **Many, Valentine. Many.**_

_Somewhere in the back of his head a howl and a gruff grunt resounded, deeper in the confines in his mind, almost none existent._

_Suddenly Hojo's word sprung into mind._

_**Galian Beast.** The creature howling deep within his mind…_

_Panic gripped his heart with an iron fist._

_**Death Gigas. **A grunt, somewhat further back than the howl._

_His heart thumped loudly in his breast._

_**Hellmasker. **The nightmarish voice, mocking, snide and filled with insanity._

_He couldn't breathe! A coffin? Voices? He. Could. Not. Breathe!_

Chaos… 

_The voice that sounded just like his own. The voice that whispered as though it was right by his ear, chuckling, mocking, taking amusement in his suffering. His punishment._

_The scream he issued was almost as if all of the beasts had balled up within his chest and let loose a roar along with him, causing the very wood foundations of the coffin to rumble with its intensity._

_**Yes, scream, Vincent. Welcome to everyday of the rest of you long immortal life. I told you, didn't I?**_

_The memory flooded into him suddenly. A monster in his room…yellow eyes…Chaos._

"_**One day you, a man among dogs, shall find me, a demon among men. Gaze into the Abyss…Fore I shall look back unto you."**_

_His scream felt as though it would never end._

* * *

"Zack! Grab his shoulders! Cid, grab his feet! Yuffie, hold his hands down!" Aeris knelt by his head and placed one hand one either side of his face. Closing her eyes she began to mutter under her breath. Sending her soul out to Vince she tried to calm him but was instantly struck by into her body by a familiar foe. _JENOVA…Yazoo…_

_Oh Gods! Vince, Vincent, hold on just a bit longer!_

She healed his wounds and helped the others hold him, waiting out the storm of memories attacking the boy from the inside out.

* * *

The gruff pilot before him mumbled something about needing coffee as he was slowly stirred awake. Nero rolled his eyes and allowed his shadows to harmlessly run over the man again to wake him up. Placing one tendril over his mouth before hand, Nero waited as the pilot fully awoke and screamed into the tendril just after blinking like a dumb fool.

Nero glared at him and linked to Cid's thoughts using his shadows.

_I will help your friend, Pilot, but I want something in return._

Cid glared at him, his version of, 'well, spit it out already.'

_I will tell Vincent afterwards, I just need your word that you'll make sure Vincent will take an audience with me._

Cid lunged forward, hearing the cries of his comrade, and yelled into the tendril. The sound didn't come out but Nero heard it clear enough "Help him already you stupid ass!"

Nero grinned and left some shadows behind to heal the pilots wounds as he disappeared into darkness, melding into the shadows of the room, determined to save the only man who could possibly help him with his goal.

_Hold on just a little longer, Weiss. I will free you from this hell and that madman's grasp._

* * *

**SORRY FOR THE DELAY!!!**

**I've been taking a class outside of school to get my Water Safety Instructor training. It was a two weeklong course with hours from anywhere from 4 hours to 9 hours. I passed though! **

**Anyways, this isn't spell checked, like usual. Its short 'cause I wanted to get an update up and this felt like a good place to stop for now. I'm already working on the next chapter and I have the outline for the rest of the story done.**

**One good news, I know people are reading this. I've gotten 3509 hits and the first chapter broke 1000. I'm hoping that all ya'll people that read and don't review will at least leave a comment at the end of this…**

**THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO SUPPORTS ME! Love you lots!**

**-Spazzy**


	15. Someone To Pity

Chapter 15: Someone To Pity

Blood stained the floor in small puddles, trailing behind a pair of weary, exhausted feet. Labored breath echoed in the dim, dank halls of the underground but regardless, he pressed on.

His spiky blond locks were a bit darker and droopier than normal, worn down by the battle he finally finished. A part of his heart was content. He had freed the small child from their hellish prison of a body but another part of him was sorrowful, near breaking…

_He shouldn't have had to kill a child in order to save them._

He used his hand to search the wall for any unseen bends in the hall; leaning heavily upon it as he inched towards what he hoped would be the exit.

_Tifa, Barret… please be alright…_

Somehow he knew that it _wasn't_ okay. Deep within him he felt a connection break. He wasn't sure who it was but he knew that someone dear had fallen and his blood sang with anger and sorrow. Why couldn't fate just let them be? Why did they have to be the heroes? Didn't they deserve the right to rest, to just stop and breathe? The heavy burden on his shoulders, the one he chose to suffer with in youthful foolishness, was slowly wearing him down. He felt old when he truly wasn't.

_If I feel old, just imagine how Cid or Vincent feels._ He laughed at the thought, a hoarse chuckle that burned his throat.

_Speaking of Vincent…why does the planet have against him anyways?_

He blinked wearily. With the exhaustion of battle pressing like a deadly veil upon his mind, he began to venture down new avenues of thought he never would have seen in good health.

_Maybe…the planet isn't trying to hurt Vincent…_

He fell to his knees, his vision swimming. Slowly he looked to his right. Sighing in relief he gazed at the staircase and the iron door before him. Pushing up off of his battered knees, he ventured away from the hellish maze and towards the doors. His numb fingers brushed over the cold steel thoughtfully and his eyes widened.

**_TRAITOR!_**

He yanked his hand back as if burned, the tips of his fingers sizzling from the extent of malice and hatred pressing forth from the room.

_That sounded like…JENOVA…I can't face her alone and I definitely don't have a key. _

He watched the door of the mainframe as if it might explode open with a fury of alien rage that only JENOVA could possess. Turned on heel he headed, instead, for the staircase.

He took each step slowly, one at a time. His vision swam dangerously and he preyed that he would safely make it up the long staircase before the darkness took him. His thoughts wandered back to the topic from before.

_Is this…our second chance?_

* * *

Yazoo didn't bother with his surroundings, didn't even notice the thick black mist creeping at his ankles until the darkness seemed to be _gnawing_ on his flesh. He jumped a bit at the shock of something foreign biting at his ankles. Spinning on heal he surveyed the room and yet he found nothing but shadow, blood and the one whom Mother had deemed his Father-to-be.

He couldn't suppress the feral growl that crawled along his throat. Anger made his eyes flash with a dangerous green light as he spun on the spot.

Was it the pilot? No, the old man had been knocked down and left unconscious; it couldn't possibly be him, not to mention that the mere human could not have summoned such an inhuman darkness. He shivered as a tendril coyly traveled up his spine, melting the skin there to a degree that took actual effort to heal. Whoever it was controlling these tendrils of darkness, they were strong and they were _playing_ with him. He growled in frustration, how dare someone play with him as if he were some mouse between a cat's paw?

"I suggest that you stop playing with his mind. Only then shall I return the favor of stopping the darkness from playing with your flesh," a voice rang out softly, as if the whisper had come from the darkness itself, thickly accented and nowhere to be found.

Yazoo scowled, glaring at the tendrils now draping at his thighs, ripping the flesh from the bone of his newly acquired body. Flushing the energy his Mother gave him to the wounds, he forced the flesh to heal but with each new strip of skin that healed, another chunk would disappear in its place.

_What is this?!_

"This is the darkness in which I was born. This is the darkness in which consumed my Mother upon my birth. Here I come to die and here I arise anew. This is the death of a million and here only I can retrieve them. The man before you is the only one who has survived the darkness I have become. This man, I need this man and so if you continue your meddling, this darkness shall consume you just like the millions of others who crossed my path."

"Show yourself!" Yazoo said coldly, drawing his gun out quite slowly, as if proving his point that the intruder would die by his bullet upon sight.

The laughter was beginning to drive him insane. Continuous chuckling that never seemed to cease. Obviously, his foe was very amused.

The darkness seemed to crawl thickest around his fallen victim, Yazoo noted. However, unlike his unlucky flesh, which seemed to be rapidly melting away into nothingness, Vincent remained unscathed. The shadows seemed to gently lap around him, as though recognizing the man as an equal or as kin. Yazoo dwelled on the fact that his intruder had said, _the only one who has survived the darkness I have become…_ Did that mean that Vincent's darkness was deeper even than this flesh eating tendrils surrounding them? He suppressed a proud and knowing smile. Now he knew why Mother admired him so. He and the darkness were one.

Releasing his link with Vincent somewhat, he thrust the man into one last memory so that he could deal with his new enemy with full focus.

Vincent moaned softly as his mind twirled into a new illusion and surrendered to the darkness of his own memories.

* * *

_"If anything, Vincent, you should pity them, the children of the night."_

Somewhere deep in Vincent's mind, he wondered where this memory came from. He did not remember it…was it Vince's? Was it something that Hojo and his demons had erased during his long sleep under the ShinRa Manor? Curiosity won and he willingly let his soul slip into the memory.

_"Mother, I can't sleep…" a voice, small and trembling, broke the darkness around him. A small boy stood at the doorway, the light of the hallway contrasted against the darkness of the room, swaying him in shadows. _

_The woman in the bed smiled slowly and motioned for her son to come forward, "Come here, Vincent."_

_The small boy picked his way towards his Mother's bed silently, holding a small scruffy looking black dog in his hands as he did so. Climbing up upon the large bed he plopped down beside his Mother on the vacant spot that should have been where his Father lay. _

_"What's wrong, Vinny? Did you have a nightmare?" she whispered softly, caressing his cheek and brushing back the unruly black hair from his eyes. The real Vincent watched from the shadows of the corner._

_"It didn't feel like a nightmare…it felt so real. There is a monster in my room, Mother! I just know it!" Vincent said gently, his form racked with trembles as he recalled what had happened moments before. Large gleaming yellow eyes and gleaming white fangs grinning at him from the shadows._

_"I knew I should have told Grimoire to stop telling you about his foolish studies…" she huffed and chuckled, "Men, always so boneheaded. I don't care how real he thinks those theories are, he shouldn't of told you. I bet that poor girl, Lucrecia, is getting told the same stories by her Father…I bet one day, when she's older, she'll dig into it, curious little thing like her," his Mother rambled, stopping only when she heard a small whine and a tug at the bed sheets._

_"Mama…" _

_She blinked. Vincent was surprisingly mature for his age. He never called her 'Mama' unless he was desperate and even then, she could count the times he used it on one hand._

_Brushing his hair back again she took in his clammy, pale skin and feverish eyes, gleaming with the aftermath of fear._

_"You shouldn't be afraid of them, Vincent…if anything…you should pity them, the children of the night."_

_The little boy looked at her, eyes wide with astonishment, "Mother?"_

_"You should pity them, Vincent. They have truly lost everything. They have no home, no love…no heart. They live forever, Vincent, until someone comes along with the mercy to free them from a hell only they know. They kill, not just to survive or for pleasure, but because they **know** what our **mercy** would give them. If humans knew that they were helpless children caught in damned bodies, we would experiment on them for the sake of saving them," she snorted softly, "But that wouldn't be freedom, that wouldn't be saving them. Just more suffering because we believe that staying alive, at all times, is best…sometimes it isn't. Would you want to be cognitively aware of being a monster, an outcast, forced to live forever? To watch the humans around you die as quickly as they came?"_

_Vincent blinked, "No…that sounds…"_

_"Horrible? I'm sure it is. But still, we humans believe we are superior to everything and that, even to these monsters, even when we lose the abilities we once had and have to sit in a bed, thinking of what we once did and no longer can do, that death is not mercy. We don't give them enough credit for their intelligence…they know._

_"They know the only way to die is to become something worthy of death in our eyes. And so they kill, murder, rape, and destroy everything around them, crying for a death that we would not give otherwise. They do not want to be healed or accepted, they want to move on. They want rest. It is hard to live, easy to die._

_"And yet…they do not want to die without their honor, or whatever is left of it. They have acquired a power that has brought them pain, Vincent. They want someone worthy, in their eyes, to save them from it. Give their saviors the glory of killing a monster. That's why our heroes are always so haunted looking," she said, brushing his cheek softly, "They know too._

_"So the monsters scream and long for death. Living for all eternity they continue to live without moving forward or going back. They simply **are**, Vincent. They are simply the ghosts of the men they were, walking forever onward into a future they can't control."_

_Vincent watched with wide, wondering eyes, amazed at what his Mother was telling him. Her smile, her gaze, everything about her right now was just so…sad._

_"So I pity them, Vincent. They are but frail children, crying and trembling on their knees. Helpless little children that have just one path… Do you understand, Vincent?"_

Oh how his heart _throbbed!_ How right she was, his Mother! Within himself Vincent clutched at his heart, hunched over with pain and screamed, _there is no mercy that a human can give that we would want. Experimentations, sidelong glances, pitiful help that would get us nowhere! All I wanted was to rest! Was that so much to ask for? I wanted to die. I thought about letting Chaos have my body so many times but then I meet **them** and bonded with **them** and helped **them **save the people of this world. They wouldn't let me die now, even if I did become a monster, a murder, Chaos. There is no one left who will give me the mercy of death! I shouldn't have followed them! I should have just asked them to kill me! I should have followed Chaos into the Life Stream! …I'm so tired…_

_…Just so tired…_

That's when he realized that his Mother was looking at him. The child form of him seemed oblivious of the man in the room but she wasn't. She smiled and whispered, "Hello, Vincent."

Then just like that, his younger self seemed to freeze, as if put on pause. His Mother patted the bed beside her, motioning him to sit.

Blinking in surprise, Vincent did so.

"It's been a long time, my son."

* * *

Yazoo blinked, eyes wide, as he felt the threads that allowed him to control his victim's memories being yanked from his grasp.

_Who?! Who could possibly be doing this! Surely not this thing in the room…_

His eyes widened, if possible, further as a voice, gentle and strong, entered his head,

**_Your memory manipulation ends here, child. You cannot have my son._**

A ghost? A ghost was overcoming his strength and stealing the man's memories away from him? He howled with anger and began to shoot randomly into the darkness, overcome by rage.

"Show yourself!" he howled, eyes glazed over with rage.

From the darkness Nero chuckled softly. This boy was not worth his time but if he wanted Vincent's help…

* * *

_Her hands were just as smooth and warm as he remembered. They traced the lines of his face gently and he willingly allowed it. He had not abandoned his cloak but he had loosened it somewhat so that she may see his face, just as she had asked. She always knew how to push and when to give space._

_"You've grown to be quite handsome, Vincent! I bet you have to beat'em away with a stick," she giggled, inspecting his face lovingly and cupping his large hands, claw and human alike, in hers. Gently he pulled his claw away from her grasp but she merely took it back just as gently, abandoning his human hand in order to hold his claw better. Bringing it up to her face she leant into the metal palm and smiled, "Don't hide from me, Vincent. I love you. That does not deny the parts of you that were altered. You're still my boy, my son."_

_He looked at her forlornly and whispered, "I am a monster…"_

_He was happy though; happy that he had finally found someone who knew what he meant when he said that he was a monster. She looked at him, still pressing his claw to her cheek, and allowed one crystal tear to glide down her cheek. She smiled anyways though, a sorrowful and understanding smile, as if this was all her fault._

"_I know."_

_He watched her for a long while before finally raising one hand, his flesh hand, to brush away her tears. His voice was soft, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you sad…"_

_She knew where he was headed and shook her head, "I am sad, I'll always be sad. Do you think I didn't know how much you have suffered, Vincent? Even if you weren't like this, I would be sad. I wasn't able to stay with you longer…I didn't get to meet the woman you loved. I wasn't there when you graduated or got a job. When your Father died…when you 'died'…I wasn't there to greet you when you returned to this world. I haven't been able to comfort you."_

"_I'm not looking for comfort, Mother…"_

"_I know," she said, fresh tears craving new paths, "I know. I wish I could help you but even if I could…"_

"_I wouldn't ask that of you."_

_She looked him in the eye and smiled, "You wouldn't ask it of anyone. You know the price of murder very well…you wouldn't do that, not to anyone else…"_

"_So you know then, what I am going to do?" Vincent asked softly._

"_Yes. Do you understand what's required of you if you want to do this?" she asked._

"_Yes."_

"_You can handle that?"_

"_If I'm right…then this will not be in vain. All this death…everything…I'll fix it. I promise."_

_She looked him in the eye and smiled, "I think you just taught yourself your final lesson, you know that?"_

_Vincent blinked, confused._

"_You have just shown yourself what it is to surpass being a monster. Some people who become monsters enjoy the power, others crave for death…but then there are those who use the power even though they despise it. They use it to continue to live," she kissed his claw gently before moving forward to kiss a tear of his cheek, "They continue to live so that they can protect the ones and the things they care about. Its self-sacrifice…"_

_Still astonished by the magnitude of the thing she was telling him, astonished by the fact that he could still shed tears, astonished by the facts that had he had just issued from his own mouth, Vincent continued to listen._

_His mother smiled, bringing the material of his cloak to her hand and rubbing it between two fingers, "Such a heavy burden. When you reach it…and your sins are washed away for your atonement, your self-sacrifice…you won't wear it anymore, will you?"_

_His shocked expression finally melted into a warm look. Not quite a smile but not quite a scowl. _

"_If I ever reach that place, Mother…" he looked at her with the eyes he had come to have, eyes he hoped he could change, "Then I will not need this cape any longer."_

"_I told you he was real!" he blinked, that voice wasn't his Mothers. He looked down; the boy version of himself now animated once more. His Mother simply smiled._

_"You were right, Vinny. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you," his Mother said._

_The little boy slowly got up on his knees, one hand clutching his soft puppy, the other remained empty as he leaned forward, scanning Vincent's eyes closely. _

_"Yeah, you're him alright…but you're different," he said as he slowly came closer, stretching his small little hand forward to trace the lines of Vincent's face, feeling the softness of his skin and brushing against his eye lids gently, brushing over his mouth and tracing his jaw, "You're not a monster."_

_Vincent blinked, surprised._

_The little boy smiled, "You're a ghost with chained wings."_

_His Mother smiled from behind the little boy, "See? I told you that you would teach yourself something. A ghost with chained wings and a monster are similar…but you already know the difference."_

_He could feel his grasp on the memory slipping. Slowly he could no longer feel the young hands on his face or see the youthful eyes or his Mother's face. The darkness swooped in to gather him in its arms but as he was tugged away he heard her voice, lingering on the winds of his mind._

_**"You are a monster and a ghost. Are you ready to be human?"**_

* * *

_Am I…ready to be human?_

He closed his eyes, drifting lazily in the darkness of unconsciousness.

_Can I be human?_

* * *

"Zack, can you hear me? Zack?" the radio at his hip fizzled and popped as Aeris' voice came through loud and…well…not so clear. Yuffie had given him her radio and Red had given Aeris his while all three of them went up ahead to scout, leaving Zack behind on nurse and camp duty. He didn't understand the logic but it didn't seem wise to argue with two women and a cat…thing.

Grabbing at the radio he just about screamed at it in his frustration, "'course I'm still here, Aeris! Where did you think I went, back to the Life Stream?"

"That's not funny, Zack!"

Zack rolled his eyes, mimicking the voice before turning back to the radio in his palm, "Yea, I know. Sorry. What'cha need?"

"Do you have the camp set up and a first aid kit with materia handy?" she said, panting lightly as she did so.

"…Yea…everything okay over there, Aer'?"

The next couple of words just about stopped his heart for a third time in his very long existence.

"We found Cloud. "

* * *

Vince opened his eyes slowly, they felt like lead weights. Moaning gently he rolled onto his back, covering his eyes with one hand and sighed. _All those dreams…were they for real?_

"Hey, you finally woke up!"

Groaning lightly as the dim lights finally hit his blurry eyes, he glanced to the source of the voice curiously.

The man from before who had stopped him from walking into the portal was there, sitting beside his makeshift bed made of sleeping bags and blankets, smiling in this way the made warmth blossom in his chest and make him feel that hope wasn't so farfetched.

"I was afraid you were never going to wake up! But hey, you might be younger Vincent but you're still as hard to kill as a cockroach. Not that you're a cockroach or anything but hey, whatever floats your boat or keeps your heart beatin'. Now lets tick off the answers to the questions you're probably about to ask," he said softly, bringing one hand up to start counting off fingers as he continued, "I'm Zack, one of the allies that agreed to cross over for this mission. You collapsed at the Purity Portal and fell victim to these crazy, spasmy dream things. Then you suddenly stopped. Then we took ya up, moved to a secure room and set up a mini camp! Aeris, Yuffie and Nanaki went up ahead while you slept to clear a path. Then they…" he paused and his expression instantly grew a bit darker, his smile faltering before he brushed it aside and continued, "Then I put ya in this here tent and waited until you woke…and now we're here!" he threw his arms out to prove his point.

Vince stared at him like he was crazy for a moment, trying to digest the wide load of information in the small amount of time given to him.

"Uh…okay. Thanks."

Silence.

"So, you feelin' okay?" Zack broke up the silence, still happy and warm though Vince could see the darkness of worry deep behind the mask he wore.

"Yeah, I feel fine," he said, sitting up slowly before looking to Zack, "You said that Aeris, Yuffie and Nanaki went up ahead. You sounded worried. Are they back? Are they okay?"

Zack's expression slowly fell and it was somewhat heart aching to watch. He was truly trying to stay optimistic and Vince knew just how hard that could be.

Zack released a long breath and hung his head, "They're fine."

"Then what's bothering you so badly?"

…

"They found Cloud half dead."

He couldn't shake that memory out of his head and most likely never would. It was just like before. If only he had come sooner…

_The two girls finally rounded the corner and Zack all but sprinted to them, helping them with the heavy and familiar burden of an unconscious Cloud Strife._

_"What the hell happened?" Zack breathed out, glancing down to the battered male in his arms. A large chunk of Cloud's thigh was missing. Three deep gouge marks ripped clean through his thigh, oozing red and a disgusting looking substance he couldn't name. Smaller scratches lined the boy's body…no…he wasn't a boy anymore. Zack's heart clenched miserably. _

_**I refuse to lose another friend, especially in a place like this! **_

_But it didn't take a certified doctor to tell that Cloud was dancing on Death's doorstep._

_Rushing into a spare tent of the three he had set up, Zack placed the battered and bleeding man upon the hastily made bed he had prepared when he heard that they were coming. Cloud moaned at the sudden movement and his breathing was labored. A quick glance to the arm suggested that his arm was broken in several places, not to mention the deep gouge and a couple of odd lumps in the torso, suggesting broken ribs._

_From there the memory was scattered. Flickers of pain glances, halted breathing, blood oozing, fluttering heartbeats, healing murmurs, and the glow of materia at Aeris' hands. _

_**I promised. I promised I would protect you, Cloud. Some job I've done…I'm sorry…I'm so sorry. If I had come just a bit sooner…maybe…**_

"Is he going to make it?" Vince's voice cut through his angst and his thoughts. He accepted the distraction thankfully.

"We think so. Aeris' fixed up the bones pretty well with her amazing Ancient-y magic and all. The wounds are coming around well. Probably minimal scarring…"

"But?"

Zack sighed softly, "Hasn't woken up yet. Aeris says not to worry but," he gave Vince a lopsided grin, "Can you blame me? He's my best friend."

Vince nodded, looking down at his blanket covered feet, "I know how you feel."

Zack looked to him and smiled.

Sometimes you didn't need amazing advice, just someone who would listen and understand.

"I know."

* * *

Yazoo screeched in pain, firing more and more shots in the accumulated and ever thickening darkness. But the more he shot the thicker the mass got. Thick patches of skin were gone and he was running out of the energy needed to accumulate healed flesh. Blood oozed from his body and trickled from his mouth.

_Bam. Bam. Click. Click. Click._

His heart froze, his finger continuing to twitch on the delicate hairpin trigger of his gun uselessly. Chuckling whispered into his ear and slowly he grinned back. Dropping his gun he laughed, laughed because he was ready. Extending his arms out to the thick darkness that nothing else around him, he laughed. Laughed because he had failed. Laughed because Mother wouldn't be saving him. Laughed because the darkness Mother had birthed him in was going to be his end. Laughed because either way he knew Mother would still have Vincent, wanted to love Vincent. Loved this traitor, which didn't love her more than she loved him. He laughed, a heartbreaking and sickening laugh.

A laugh of sorrow and anger and bitterness.

He laughed until his vocal cords were extinguished by the darkness, swallowed away. But even after he was long gone the darkness still seemed to ring with his laughter.

* * *

**O.O …the death of Yazoo sucked, sorry guys. The other fight scenes will be a lot better but the first three with Loz, Yazoo and as such…I really don't give a damn about. You can expect Hojo, Sephiroth, Kadaj, Weiss, Rosso, Azul and…I'm probably forgetting someone…in the next chapter.**

**I write while listening to music so if you guys want, I can start posting the music I wrote the pieces to so you can read with the music in the background since the moods usually co-enact. Just write me or review if you think it's a good idea.**

**I got over 1000 more hits after the last chapter update, its quite encouraging. So I just broke 4100. Thanks guys!**

**-Luv,**

**Spazzy**

**EDIT: …not spell checked….I need an editor or somethin' 'cause I'm too lazy.**

**BTW, Cloud isn't gonna die...I need him to kill a couple of people first... **


	16. Hello and Goodbye

**Song I listened to while writing:**

**Somewhere by Within Temptation **

Chapter 16: Hello and Goodbye

"So, you're still alive?"

The voice was cold and yet curious, as if the tone was not meant to be insensitive but simply was. The accent was odd…familiar. Yes, definitely familiar, Vincent was sure of that much. Lifting one arm, he attempted to brush out the exhaustion from his eyes but he failed to move his arm in the slightest. He was completely exhausted and while he knew the Chaos Cells within him were working double time to stimulate his energy and heal him, he could not find the motivation to move.

He could barely open his eyes.

But somehow he managed. Lifting the heavy lids of his eyes with extreme effort, Vincent let his fatigued red hues glance over his surroundings.

_What the hell happened in here?_ The room was in shambles. He was surprised the floor itself hadn't collapsed and the very foundations of the place seemed fragile, as if _eaten_ away by something. There was a rather large hole in the wall parallel to where he sat in a crumbled heap. With a queasy feeling he reasoned that the pain in his back and the shape of his figure in the wall must mean that it was he who destroyed that wall. Whether on purpose, he really doubted…there was foul play, he just knew it. The bookshelves were hanging by threads and shambles. Ripped, burned out pages littered the room and the air was cold, almost void of any warmth at all. As if the warmth was sucked out by something.

Once he got over the shock that was barely a room, Vincent attempted to take in further detail, like life sources around him. However, no matter how he struggled to get his bearings, he could take in the definite features of those around him.

"Yo, what do you think you're doing? Back off!" a gruff voice this time, worried and angry.

Silence followed but the air around him seemed to static with the hate emitting from the two. Then, suddenly, there was a soaring feeling within him as another force dove into his personal Life Stream within his body and stirred within, healing him. His breath seemed to lock in his lung for a moment, a swell of life, and then he exhaled and all the pain went out with it,

Vincent's red orbs flickered up and then stopped, frozen.

"Nero…"

"Vincent, glad to see you remember me," his accent was as thick as ever.

He was about to snap a quick 'what the hell do you think you're doing?' at the insane looking man until he noticed a few things. Things such as the fact that the cold feeling in the room, all the destruction, must've been thanks to Nero taking care of Yazoo for one reason or another. Things like his eyes, so distant, so cold, and so lonely. They were the eyes of a man who has seen too many horrors, committed too many sins, and seen one too many loves ones slip away from him. A man ready to die and yet unwilling to give up, someone Vincent could relate with.

"It was you."

A smile, devious but only to mask the tired look beneath it, "It was me."

* * *

Black leather glistened like a shadow upon the air, flowing with its master's movements as though perched in water. It was a darkness separate from the element around it and demanded for an attention all its own. That was because the master of this shadowy phantom of a cloak was all power and muscle. He was cunning and strength, insanity and crystal clear intention, brilliance and the result of men trying to play God. He was Hojo's son. The son of a woman, wronged.

A man born in a tainted womb, who enjoyed to bath his skin in the fires of death created by his own hand…a man destined to be a God. Something this planet was not ready for, nor ever would be.

Silver flickers upon the air, caressing and tracing pattern's behind him as though kissed by a wind no other could feel. But it was not the flip of his coat or the whisper of his hair that gave away his otherworldliness. No, it was something much more than that.

It was his eyes and the square of his shoulder. The undeterred step of his gait and the unearthly silence of his walk… It was the beauty of his face, neither handsome nor pretty, simply beautiful in the ways that made him unlike humans. He was perfection wrapped up in one neat fleshy package. An angel made by madness, science, and the sorrow of a love torn apart in more ways than one.

There was a kiss upon his right shoulder, a birthmark upon the skin of a shoulder created to bear the wing of an Angel. This mark, a lingering imperfection of the flesh, was the only thing he had left of his true mother. Upon this kiss of flesh harbored the sorrow of a woman destined to never hold her son.

Upon the other shoulder, barren of wings, was the scar left by his father, a twisted man who left only one thing to him. Madness.

The One Winged Angel, Sephiroth.

And that was the last thing any of them would ever remember.

They were battered upon the floor. They had each fallen in different places in the room but they knew the fate of their comrades.

One body lay near the middle of the room. The room that had started this all…the mainframe. His hair, the shock red spiky mess of a mane, was soiled, darkened by blood. His eyes were wide and sightless, for the most part. But somehow he could still see them being murdered. He could see _him._ Could see his _blade_ as it pierced flesh and spilt the blood of his comrades upon the floor.

The crackle of their radio caught his limited attention.

"Tseng, Reno, Elena, Rude…report! Where are you, dammit?" Rufus, his voice brought a twitch to his lips, an offhand attempt at a smile as his energy faded. He could see his body flickering now…he was going to die.

"Sir, I think we might have lost the connection…" another voice, one of the WRO.

"Impossible," Rufus…Reno felt his heart swell with pride. If there was anyone he would die for, they were all here. Rufus, Tseng, Elena, Rude…. they were his family. They were the only ones he had ever come to love, to respect. He had friends, acquaintances, yes… but no one, nothing like them. There was nothing else like them, nothing more precious to him.

And they were dying.

They were dying together.

"Re…no?"

His eyes flicked about in his weary lids.

_Rude? Rude! Oh gods! You're alive! _

The call was followed by a rattling cough and the sick slurp of a liquid hitting the floor….blood.

"Ru…Ru…Rude…" he could barely form his best friend's name but the accomplishment made his heart soar.

He heard the scuff of fabric as a body dragged its way over to him, then the heavy thump of Rude lying beside him. He felt a hand on his shoulder, soft and reassuring. It was missing a few fingers but he didn't let that bother him. It was Rude.

"Yeah, its me."

"Wh…what about….the others?" Reno could barely make out the lights from the darks in the room now.

There was a heavy pause.

_"Elena! No!" _

_He had taken the blow for her. He remembered watching, as Tseng, their fearless leader, was sliced open once again by __**him**__, by Sephiroth. But this time…he wouldn't be getting up. His eyes were wide as the blade licked through his tissue. He seemed to pale instantly and as he fell to the ground, his blood spraying the one he saved as he did so, they all knew._

_Tseng was dead._

_Her scream was next. It was heartbreaking and chilling at the same time. A broken scream. She rushed down to him, gathering his bloody broken body up into her lap._

_"Sir? Sir? Sir! Sir! SIR! __**Tseng**__!" she rocked with him then, cradling her dead love as she cried._

_It hadn't lasted long._

_"Why do you humans insist upon crying for the weak? It just makes you even weaker than you already are. Stop it."_

_"No…."_

_"Tsk." _

_The sing of the blade, whistling through the air followed by the slice of metal and flesh._

_Elena's head was severed from her shoulders in the same amount of time, if not less, than it took to blink._

_And then two of his family, two of his precious loved ones, died. All at once, at the same moment…right before his bright teal eyes._

_"Tseng…Elena"_

_They were next._

"Do you remember that bar after New Year's, Reno?" another cough and the disgusting sound of spitting tissue onto the floor.

Reno's eyes were glazed over and the tiny fireflies of his Life Stream were fluttering at his hands and the tips of his hair. They were ready to move on but Reno wasn't.

"Ye…yeah."

"Remember, we got Rufus and Tseng to drink?"

Reno's lips quivered upwards despite the exhaustion and the pain, "yeah, yo," he smiled and began to close his eyes, they were so heavy, "They…went streakin', yo."

Rude laughed, a horse blood filled sound.

"Yeah, they went streaking."

They chuckled softly together, blood pooling in a halo around them. Reno wouldn't know that his dominant arm had been torn off or that his organs with visible under the red of his Turk uniform. He wouldn't know about the gash on his face of the fact that he had lost too much blood to live any longer. He wouldn't recall the collapsed lung of the handful of broken bones once he reached the Life Stream. No, he wouldn't remember any of that.

He would remember his family. His superior officers…no, his brothers, running butt naked down the street while they tried to catch them in time to save their dignity. He would remember how Elena's cooking was fatal but how Tseng loved making brownies. He would remember how Rude always wanted to ask this girl at the local café out. These things he would remember, they were engraved in his heart. Not the pain, not the horror that Sephiroth laid upon them.

His family.

"We're…going home."

"Yeah," Rude smiled beside him, "Yeah, we're going home."

Reno finally managed to pull on a smile. A tear glistened past the grime of his cheek, "We'll meet'em there, right Rude?"

Rude's voice was so distant now…a soft whisper.

"Yeah, Reno…they're waiting."

Then there was the fluttering of fireflies as the whirlwind of colors burst up. Their bodies disappeared, all of them, glistening and twirling and spiraling as they rose up and up and up.

There was the soft crackle of static from the radio.

Rufus had heard it all.

The family had left one behind…

* * *

"Sir…the transmission is gone."

"Leave me."

The officer turned to look at him with wide eyes, "Sir?"

A cold glare of blue shot him down and he slowly rose and left.

Rufus didn't want to break down in front of the people he was trying to save.

But then again, he couldn't save them, could he?

* * *

Nero's voice was cold and unfeeling, "Another couple of souls have returned to the Life Stream, Vincent…"

Cid had gone up ahead, scouting out for items in the excess rooms along the corridor Nero knew to be safe. Now, Vincent and Nero sat around the debris of their last fight, enjoying the silence.

"I know."

Nero glanced to him, "Where do you go from here, Valentine?"

Vincent leaned back on the balls of his hands and crossed his feet loosely at the ankles, "I repay you for your services by helping you with Weiss. We go shut down the portals, and we destroy all threats to the planet."

"That's not what I meant."

Vincent sighed softly, "Marlene had once told me that when the others explained to her and Denzel about what happened during the Sephiroth Chase, that sadness was the price to see it end.

I don't think that's right…"

Nero glanced to him curiously.

Vincent shook his head, "Look at how much we have paid so far. All this sadness, this pain, is being paid to no one. It simply is. So I think the only way to change any of this, to see any of this end, would be to go back."

"Go back?"

"To the beginning."

Nero raised an eyebrow to him, "And you're going to do this?'

Vincent chuckled softly, "Yes and no. I don't know if I'll be the one to do it, but it will be done. I owe them that much."

"Who?"

Vincent's eyes flickered upwards, as though sensing he recently departed, "To Everyone. To her…to me."

Nero just cast him a sidelong glance before nodding his understanding, "If you help me, Vincent Valentine, then I will do whatever I can to help you."

Vincent didn't look at him, keeping his gaze pinned ahead of him but he did nod his own understanding.

* * *

The vortex before them was strangely beautiful and yet horrifying at the same time. Vincent watched in awe as the tendrils of the impure side of the Life Stream swirled behind the gate of the Impurity Portal set up by Hojo in a moment of madness.

It was just like the limbo he was in during his outbreak of Geo Stigma, now dormant within him. An ocean of life was lying before him but it was different somehow. Colder, sadder…an abyss of sleep, eternal.

He couldn't tear his eyes off of it, not even when he heard the small bleep of confirmation as Nero struck the close button and not even when he watched the metal doors close down and lock it away like the shutter of a camera. When the portal was finally locked away, he took a breath and let it out slowly it.

Two portals down, one to go…the biggest one. The end.

Vincent turned and looked to the two others in the room, the ones that, for now, would be making up his team. Cid gave him a determined glance and a nod, hi sign that he was ready to go all the way. Nero was leaning against the wall next to the door, watching him curiously, and drinking in his movements. Slowly he too gave him a nod.

Vincent never once looked back as he glided out of the room, his mantle and cloak swirling in tattered red swirls as he did so.

_Time to end this, once and for all._

He had a purpose; he had friends at his back.

He had a chance; he had a future…or a past…to look forward to.

_Time to start over, to fix things._

_I will, I promise._

* * *

Tifa was kneeling down in front of something. A something very familiar to her. A small robotic cat torn to pieces, little bits of wire and fur and chip strewn across the floor. She gathered what she could of the feline and brought him into her arms.

"Caith…" her eyes were rapidly filling with tears.

A sizzling pop brought her attention to the body she was cradling. A small jolt of electricity gave her a start but she didn't let go. She watched as the little robot's eyes slowly glowed back to life.

There was the sound of static before Caith's voice finally broke free, "Ti…fa…. Go help…Reeve."

"Reeve?" Tifa asked softly. If Reeve was nearby he could fix Caith Sith! "Where is he, Caith?"

With much struggling and sizzling pops, Caith Sith raised his still attached arm to point at a doorway not too far away, blood marks skidding towards the small door.

Tifa, being as careful as possible with the bundle in her arms, stood and began to slowly approach the doorway.

"Reeve? Are you here?"

Then she stopped cold.

There, lying slumped in the corner before her, strewn in long red gashes of blood along the walls, was Reeve. AVALANCHE's Reeve, sitting in a puddle of his own blood as it stained his shirt and pants, his stomach wide open for all the world to see, numerous bullet holes in his torso and enough in his knees to turn the caps and bones to mush. His eyes were glassy and tear stained, staring blankly outward. Blood trickled from his nose and mouth, his hand lax by his side. Behind him, written in his blood, was a message.

Foolish humans, now taste the malice of your own technology. Using your own men I shall riddle your flesh with holes and fill your bodies with lead bullets. Taste the wrath you bestowed upon my children and son.

_Heaven's Dark Harbinger_

_JENOVA_

A sob was caught in her throat, thick and sorrowful, "Reeve…oh Gods, what has happened to you?"

She kneeled next to him cautiously, pressing two fingers just below the crevice of his jaw, trying to find a pulse but finding none under the smooth cold skin of her friend. He was dead.

"Oh Reeve!" Tifa breathed out, looking at her dead friend's face sorrowfully, "Oh Reeve! Oh Reeve! Oh Gods, oh Reeve!"

She couldn't build up the strength to get past those few lines.

"Ti…fa… please?"

She glanced down and knew immediately what Caith wanted. She knew the rules of robotics, she knew that they theoretically couldn't feel but that didn't matter. This was her friend, they were both her friends and she'd honor their wishes.

So with a heavy heart and sorrow nestled deep in her chest, she stood to leave. As she walked into the hallway she glanced back with soft eyes, looking at the ambitious and kindhearted man cradling a cat that loved him like a son loves a father. Who was loved back in the manner that a father loves a son.

They were a family and they wouldn't leave each other behind. Glancing toward the one part that she would forever remember about them as she watched them, she left, smiling softly with tears slipping down her face…

A small-gloved paw in the hand of a ambitious man.

The hands of family.

Hands of love.

Hands of friends.

Of faith and comradeship and bravery and dreams.

And most importantly…

…Hope.

* * *

"Hmm…you can't sleep either?" his voice was smooth and sailed across the air of the room warmly.

Zack was sitting on a crate currently on guard duty throughout the night as Aeris continued to watch Cloud and the others slept. He had made a makeshift campfire out of flashlights from the kits they found in a spare room. Zack was currently playing catch with a piece of materia.

Vince winced and chuckled, walking over to a spare crate and sitting down quietly, "You caught me, good reflexes."

"I'm a former SOLDIER 1st class, I would hope that I would be," Zack said with a smile, "So, what's on your mind, Turk Boy?"

Vince quirked an eyebrow at the name but shrugged it off, "Can't sleep, like you said."

Zack snorted, "Lack of sleep is usually thanks to something weighing on your mind. Like I said, what's up?"

Vince sighed, "Man, you're good."

Zack grinned and turned to give him a sidelong glance, "I worked under Sephiroth, I learned to be a master of reading emotions. Had to learn if I ever wanted to figure him out. But then again…little good that did me, I never saw it coming…"

Vince blinked curiously, "Saw what coming?"

Zack blinked back before realization hit him, "Oh yeah, forgot you weren't alive through that. Big skip for you, man…"

Vince frowned, "You plan on telling me anytime soon, what did I miss?"

"Do you even know who Sephiroth is?"

Vince shook his head.

"Then the story would be lost on you anyways…"

Vince growled, "Does it matter? I'll learn eventually, right?"

Zack was about to say _if you ever get back_ but he didn't have the heart to do so.

"Alright, I'll tell you. At least it'll make time go by a little bit better."

So they settled in for the night, ready to swap stories.

* * *

**Sorry this took so long to update! But I've got a plan so the updates should be a bit frequent, I hope! Like I said, everything is already mapped out!**

**Thanks for the reviews and the patience guys! Sorry this chapter was so short!**

**Spazzy.**


	17. Eye of the Beholder

**Music: Lux Aeterna (Requiem for a Dream)**

_WARNING: EXTREME GORE TO COME! DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE QUISY! (Tell me if you think I need to raise the rating on this fic!)_

Chapter 17: Eye of the Beholder

It was insanity. Pure, simple, insanity. How else could the situation be described?

Yuffie growled lightly, a foreign noise in her throat. She clutched at her hair in whatever manner she could still accomplish and attempted to weep. She attempted, she failed.

How did this all happen?

_"Why hello Miss Kisaragi, Red XIII! Long time no see!" _

_"Hojo!"_

Oh…that's right, he gave her a good smack to the temple with some blunt and painful object. She faintly remembered Red howling to her as she was dragged away into a section of the hallway she didn't even know was there. She wasn't sure why Nanaki couldn't follow but she heard his attempts of comforting her as she blacked out. Promises to get the others, to save her.

Now…all she wanted to do was die.

Maybe if she tried really hard, she could drown herself in the puddle of gore she was sitting in.

_The gore I created…_

Was it hers anymore? At one point or another, it had been. Thanks to Hojo, she had been…_dehumanized. _

And after she had woken up, after she had listened to Hojo's explanation, his extravagant speech, he had tested her instincts. He released into her cell several of the WRO soldiers.

_"Oh Gaia! A monster!"_

_"We haven't seen this breed before!"_

_Another voice, just a panicked as the first two, "Spread out! Joseph, check the exit! Mike, Bill, cut it off from Joseph! Kate, flank its left!" the commander had issued out orders immediately._

_Yuffie watched them with wide eyes, trying to speak but still fumbling upon words with her sluggish tongue. __**Please, stop!**_

_"No good, sir! The exit is airtight, sealed from the machine on the other side!" Joseph said, trying to control his shaky voice._

_The commander cursed, his gun still trained upon Yuffie's forehead._

_"Everyone, turn on your night goggles!"_

_Yuffie blinked and swallowed the lump in her throat. Up until now, all they knew was their was a new breed of monster in their midst and now…_

_…They would see._

_They would see the slimy, soft scales, still growing, that were jutting out of her bleeding skin. They would see the stretched taunt skin where it caressed her mal-proportioned elbows and knees, where her limbs had been cut off and been reset. Where her shoulder blades had been removed and replaced by mechanical devices, to pump her muscles harder, to give her inhuman strength and most of all, to connect to her spine, to control her nerve functions…to control her._

_Her face was bruised and torn, ripped to expose the new bone formations there. Her eyes weren't hers anymore, glowing with the taint of Mako and JENOVA. Her hair had fallen out in clumps on her skull, while some sprouting underneath the fleshy, growing scales on her body. A tail, thick and powerful, batted at the floor, crumbling the marble surface into dust with each panicked twitch. Claws caused her fingers to ache at their weight and shape, these twisted ugly daggers that could cut the marble itself like paper. Her teeth, no longer blunt, were these twisted, improperly placed daggers of bone, ripping at her lips and tongue, allowing blood to dribble out over her chin and drip onto the floor as though she were some demented and rabid…thing._

_…And Hojo…had taken her womanhood from her. She was unsure how he could've done all that he had with his limited amount of time but the glowing orbs in the corner was all she needed to answer that question. Time Materia. He had sped up time within this cell, allowing her to develop in a matter or seconds instead of years. The Materia was still in effect too. She watched as the frail humans who walked in began to subtly age. The commander, a man who must've been in his early forties when he first walked in, now was sporting the lovely flecks of silver that came with age in his black hair. The others were bearing similar effects but they didn't seem to notice._

_She wanted to throw up. To curl up and let the soldiers kill her. But then she felt their horror like a tangible thing on the air. She felt the NANO technology in her shoulder blades spread deep into her nerves, latching on and ordering her limbs to move.__ She watched as bullets pinged off her thickening scales, as her twisted claws ripped through the young woman, Kate's, lower torso, spilling her insides in a waterfall of pinks, reds, purples and glistening browns, falling with sickening splashes to the floor. She fell first._

_Then she moved onto Mike and Bill, moving like the shadows that engulfed them, unaware of the bullets as she threw her tail into Mike, thrusting him and pinning him to the wall, making him watch as her fangs opened and came to rest around Bill's fragile head. Pulling him up from the ground, a deep monstrous part of her felt amused as the man kicked and screamed and clawed at her jaws and her stomach twisted with the feeling. With a sport of ruby blood, her fangs pierced the fragile bone of his skull and ripped through the vital gray matter within. _

_The man that had once been bill felt to the floor, headless. No head ever followed. Yuffie spun upon Mike, her body now the size of one of the Ice Dragons she had once fought with AVALANCHE. Pressing upon him harder with her whipcord tight tail, she took satisfaction in the cracks, snaps, and crunches of his rips and spine crumpling into nothing within him. Watched as his chest collapsed, bone piercing his lungs and heart. She listened as his wheezing screams fluttered into nothingness._

_She was enjoying this and all she wanted to do was die._

_Turning now upon the remaining two, she slithered towards Joseph. Despite the Time Materia, he must have been the youngest. His hair was thickening and he was turning into a man instead of the teenager he must have been when he entered the room._

_"Don't touch him, you monster!"_

_She glanced to the other and grinned, a twisted, gap toothed display that glistened with the blood and gore of his comrades. Rushing to him, a foreign voice exited her lips, raspy and horrible, "Fine, you'll be first then."_

_Whipping her tail hard as Joseph ran to try and stop her, connecting with his temple and flinging him across the room, she pressed the commander hard into a corner of the room. She took pleasure in his screams, the screams he was trying to contain in spite of her, as she slowly, __**slowly**__, dragged one claw over his thigh, disconnecting vein, muscle, flesh and nerves from bone until all that was left was a stump. _

_She repeated the process with his other thigh and his arms until the blood loss from all his major arteries was too great. With one great shove, his whole spine collapsed from within him and he slumped bonelessly against the wall with dead unseeing eyes._

_That's when the crying finally reached her. The sound had once belonged to a young man no older than seventeen and now it came out through the lips of a thirty-year-old male. She turned to look at Joseph, now a handsome man at the peak of his life, cradling his torn and bleeding temple with one hand and the other keeping covering his surprised and gaping mouth. The expression looked odd on a thirty-year-old man but his eyes betrayed the form of his body. He was just a boy. _

_Her eyes drifted to the bloody and torn papers beside him. Lab reports…her lab reports._

_"Yuffie?"_

_Her heart nearly shattered then. During the whole fight she wanted someone to recognize her, to stop her, to change her back or wake her up and tell her it was just a horrible nightmare. That she didn't just slaughter her comrades. That she wasn't this twisted excuse of a creature. That she didn't just take pride in the ripping of another's body at her hand._

_But now that someone recognized her, she found it was worse than when they didn't know her. Because now she had to look at his shocked, disappointed and revolted eyes. She had to listen as he screamed and cried and yelled at for what he just watched her do. She had to look at the absolute hate in his expression and even after she killed him, even if she ever changed back or woke up or survived all this…_

_She would never forget that hate, that absolute loathing that he directed at her, all for her…_

_…Just for her. _

And it was his gore and blood and flesh and filth she sat in now. She had destroyed him utterly and this time, it wasn't because of the control Hojo had over her nervous system. It was because above all else, she desperately wanted to destroy that look, that expression, that hate, Joseph had looked at her with and despite the fact that she had ripping him apart until only bits of flesh and gore was left, until he was just a pile of human parts, his face was burned into her mind's eye so that every time she closed her eyes…

…All she could see was hate.

* * *

And so Zack had told him everything. Told him of Sephiroth, of his rank and how for so long, he was the hero of the people. Zack told him of Sephiroth's fall into insanity, of how he found out how he was made.

Zack told him about Doctor Lucrecia Crescent and Doctor Simon Hojo. Told him of the JENOVA project and of Cloud and himself during the experimentation, and of his own death. Told him about Sephiroth's return, his plans for Meteor and Aeris' death. Told him about how Meteor was stopped and how Sephiroth died again.

Then he continued and told Vince even more. Told him about the Reunion, about Sephiroth's three vital remnants, about his return through the puppet, Kadaj. Told him about Cloud's last glorious fight and the words he had said to Sephiroth as he disappeared again. He told him about the origins of GeoStigma and their cure.

Then he moved onto the final story that, despite having nothing to do with Sephiroth, had something to do with his brother, Genesis. Told Vince of Deep Ground and Omega. Of Hojo's return through a man named Weiss and about the demons within Vincent, but mostly of Chaos and his role to play.

Zack neglected to tell Vince the things he believed Vincent should explain, mainly Vincent's own experimentation, of the four within him, of Lucrecia and his own journey through Deep Ground. Of the ProtoMateria and the death of Chaos.

Vince sat there, nodding and listening all the while, twisting his warm cup of coffee in hand, something they had found in a nearby lounge, and staring into the brown liquid as if it had all the answers of the universe and would tell him them all if he looked close enough.

Zack looked to him from the corner of his eye, "That explain things a little better to you?"

Vince just nodded and together they sat in silence for a few moments until Vince finally broke the peace, "So…when Vincent says he is a monster, he is referring to Chaos?"

Zack sighed, "You should really ask him about this, you know?"

Vince looked to him, a quiet and unyielding gaze, and "You're from the Life Stream you've been watching. You know."

"I know what happened kid, not why he thinks he is a monster."

"Then he isn't one?" Vince asked softly.

Zack shivered. The more the kid learned about what happened, the more he began to change to be more like the original Vincent Valentine.

"Now I didn't say that. I just don't know, Vince, you need to ask him."

Vince sighed softly.

"Why do you want to know anyways?" Zack asked.

"Just curious." A lie.

Zack was about to comment on that when Red XIII, or Fiery Fur Ball as he called him, came speeding around the corner, skidding to a halt and almost running into the makeshift campfire.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What's the rush, my Feline Friend?" Zack smiled despite the sinking feeling in his stomach.

"Where's Yuffie?" Vince asked.

Zack hadn't even noticed the absence of the curious little ninja. Now that he looked around he did notice the absence. He and Yuffie were quite alike. Both of them were quite loud, happy, fun loving, and often were told that they were annoying. _But she isn't dead._ He told himself.

"Ambush…Hojo…got Yuffie…couldn't follow…we must hurry!" Nanaki panted, his sides heaving painfully as his deprived lungs tried to catch up with his racing heart.

"What?!" The two yelled simultaneously.

* * *

Now they were racing down the halls at breakneck speeds. Zack and Vince left shortly after telling Aeris about what had happened. Nanaki wanted to go as well, to try and save Yuffie where he couldn't before. But Aeris kindly told him that he needed rest, to calm down and that she and Cloud needed him. They needed his protection and that was just as important as finding Yuffie. Both cases were life and death situations. Vince and Zack could handle Yuffie and Hojo. Red was needed here.

Red sighed and grudgingly stayed behind while Zack and Vince sped up ahead to find their lost comrade.

They had gained a lot of ground in little time and were quite proud of their great advance until they had to skid to a halt. Now stopped within a circular room, they stood a few paces away from one of the men Zack had just finished talking about.

Brother of Nero the Sable, host of Doctor Simon Hojo, leader of Deep Ground and the true host of Omega. Weiss.

"Zachary Fair and Vincent Valentine. What a pleasant surprise," said a voice, separate of the wild silver haired man before them. Just to the right of the shirtless man was another, clad in a white lab coat, greasy black hair tied loosely into a long tail at his back.

Readjusting his glasses, he spoke again in his hawkish and annoying voice, "Did you miss me, my Children?"

"I am not you child! You asshole!" Zack all but growled, hands twitching with the need to be around the other's neck, twisting the air and life from him slowly.

"Doctor Simon Hojo," Vince said calmly, looking at him with a mix of curiosity, disbelief and disgust, "You were a lot younger the last time we met."

Hojo jerked back, surprised and flabbergasted by the blunt, if not a tad bit rude, statement.

"How dare you? …Wait, you aren't Vincent. Or at least, not fully, not yet… You're that Turk. The young version that JENOVA keeps talking about. The anomaly, the wrench in her plans… No, you are not my child, not yet."

Vince just shrugged, "Never really gave a damn about your opinion. The only good thing that ever came from meeting you was meeting Doctor Lucrecia Crescent."

Yes, he had told Tifa before that he had never met them, that his mission hadn't started yet. That was partly true. His mission had not started yet. He had not had a formal meeting with them yet but he had met them just once.

They were both heading to one part of the ShinRa building or another, they were both in the same elevator and it was there that they had made a bit of small talk. Within those few moments Vince had figured out two things.

For one, Lucrecia was one of the most beautiful people he had ever met in the world…

…And he really, _really,_ wanted to shoot Hojo in the head.

Hojo sneered, bringing him back to reality, "Oh, so it started that early in the game, did it? You were trying to steal away my lab assistant even then?"

Vince blinked. _Steal away…his lab assistant…_

Hojo grinned, "Oh yes. You always loved the amazingly wonderful Lucrecia Crescent. When you thought no one was watching you would sneak her looks, looks that didn't get past your Turk mask but past your cold dull eyes. Oh yes, I knew. I knew all along. And behind your back I whispered sweet delusions into her ear about all the wrongs she has done to you so that every time you whispered a sweet nothing into her ear behind my back, she would feel guilty for what she had done.

"Because she and I both knew the irony of it all. That the one you loved above all else, your little savior, your angel, that gave you back the humanity that the Turks took from you, was the murderer of your Father."

Vince's eyes went wide then, wide like saucers. He didn't know Lucrecia. She seemed like a wonderful woman. Smart, funny, kind and beautiful. But he didn't have the memories that Vincent had, nor the true story that Lucrecia told him during Deep Ground. And deep within his heart hate and confusion bubbled to the surface.

But was the hate really for Lucrecia? Or for this man before him or just for the horrible ironies and twists that constantly kept popping up in his life?

"What have you done with Yuffie?" Zack growled.

"Hmm? Oh, the girl," Hojo began to laugh, "She's in good hands. Don't worry; she's coming along quite well. Speaking of that, I must go. Weiss, handle these fools, will you?"

A deep voice echoed over the room now, spreading over slowly like the ripples of a lake, "So, you experimented on her as well?"

Vince turned, his neck near snapping, as he looked over to the group entering the room from the only exit not sealed off now. There, in the corridor, stood Vincent, Cid and another man whom Vince had never met before.

"Took you guys long enough," Zack called out, his smile in place but his eyes hard and serious.

"Sorry," Cid smirked and thumbed his nose, "Had a bit of business with a remnant."

"Figured as much."

Vince turned to Zack, "Who's the other guy?" he whispered.

Zack looked to the man now making his way towards Weiss, his eyes wide and his stride a bit stilted from shock. He whispered back to Vince, "Nero the Sable. Weiss' brother."

"Brother…" the man named Nero all but whispered, the noise sending a chill down Vince's spine but yet, at the same time, pinpricking a stab of pity through his heart.

Hojo scowled, looking around to make sure he wasn't being watched, as he edged towards the door he used to catch Yuffie earlier, only stopping when he heard the click of the safety on Death Penalty disengage and be pressed against his temple.

"Show me the way to Yuffie and your death won't be quite as slow and painful as I originally intended."

Hojo grinned slowly, gazing up to balance his eyes with those of the fiery orbs that belonged to one Vincent Valentine.

* * *

**Sorry it's short! **

**Ha! No one died in this one…unless you count all of the WRO soldiers…er, nevermind. Anyways, I hope you guys liked this one. I've gotten some e-mails and reviews asking me about why I'm killing everyone. Believe me, I don't want to kill everyone! But it is quite vital to my plot and it justifies the means in the end of this! I promise, the plot twist won't disappoint you, or at least I hope it won't. I promise, all of this death had a reason in the long run!**

**Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing! I appreciate the support quite a lot. For anyone who isn't, I just request that you review on the last chapter since I know there are a lot more people reading this. **

**Tell me what you think!**

**-Spazzy**

**PS: Tifa is coming back into the picture soon, along with Kadaj, Sephiroth and Cloud!**


	18. Mercy to the Unmerciful

Song: Title: What I've Done 

**Artist: Linkin Park**

Chapter 18: Mercy to the Unmerciful

Hojo looked to Vincent, his eyes ablaze with glee and demented madness, "Now why would I do that, Turk?"

Vincent glared at him, a bone chilling thing.

Hojo clucked his tongue and shook his head, "That's right, you aren't a Turk anymore, are you? No, you are _My Little Monster._"

Vincent's eyes hardened but Hojo did not recognize the murderous glaze in the blood red eyes until it was a breath to late. A gunshot cracked through the air and a spurt of crimson, spurned to leap from the vein thanks to the thundering pulse of his heart, Hojo realized he now was carrying a lead slug in his upper right shoulder.

With a cry of anger and pain and insanity, Hojo squealed and grasped his shoulder, scarlet blossoming like spring flowers under his shaky palm, staining the white of his coat. Hunched over with pain nearing that of electricity blazing up the length of his shoulder and arm, Hojo snarled, "You shot me!"

The room just kind of fell silent at that. Even Weiss and Nero turned from their heart wrenching moment soon to be better explained in order to gaze at Hojo as if he were stupid. There was an awkward, lengthy pause until finally Cid broke the silence, "You thought that he was joking? You #!$-#$ put him in a coffin and inject monsters into his system—"

Cid was going to elaborate by going into the other wrongs that Hojo had done to Vincent like hurting Lucrecia, taking her baby, locking him away, starving, injecting him, poisoning him, taking his arm, reconstructing his bone anatomy and who knew what else but was cut off by a look from the gunman, not exactly a glare but not exactly kind.

It was a tired glance, one that had gone through and seen too much to want to be reminded of it once more.

Vincent returned his focus to Hojo, "For your sake, you better hope Yuffie isn't in the state that I think she is in, knowing you."

Hojo bared his teeth, a bloody mess on yellowed, malnourished teeth thanks to too many hours stuck in a lab, "And why would I be threatened by you?"

Vincent quirked an eyebrow to the man, "Well, if the gunshot wasn't hint enough for you, lets put it this way. The only way you'll get anything close to a reasonable and quick death is if Yuffie is unharmed."

Vincent saw the flicker of fear flare through Hojo's eyes and that's all he needed in order to know. Yuffie needed him. Vincent pressed the barrel of the gun to Hojo's temple once more and tilted his head in mockery, "To Yuffie?"

Hojo glared at him a good minute before clapping his hands sharply, twice. In less than the space of time it took to blink, the floor opened up beneath Vincent and swallowed him whole, sending him plummeting to the abyss of darkness that lurked deep below the demented complex.

Hojo laughed, a high and demented squeal, and looked to Weiss, "Finish them, I'm off to watch the show," and with that, he turned on heel, heading towards the hall he had used to spirit away Yuffie. The wall opened up for him as he approached and closed as he passed.

The silence hung heavy for a moment before Vince and Cid ran over to the area Vincent and Hojo had been. Cid angrily beat the door with his spear and fists while Vincent stomped on the floor to find the trap door. If he could just find it all he would have to do is shoot out the hinges and Vincent would be free or he at least could follow.

As the two occupied themselves with this, Nero turned back to look at his brother, not at all caught off guard by the murderous, blood thirsty light behind the orbs of his brother's gaze.

"Oh Weiss…" Nero whispered softly, his voice skipped a beat, for but a moment, before his eyes hardened, "We promised, Brother. Together. We'd be together."

Weiss hurled himself at his brother, all blade and snarling and death.

Nero's winged attachments unfurled in a chinking mess of metal, guarding his body from his brother's blades.

_"We will be together…"_

With a thrust of metal enhancements, Nero shoved his brother back, his eyes hardened with determination and fury.

_"We will die together…"_

With a twist of his body, Weiss used the momentum to flip backwards, skidding to a halt and pressing forwards despite the backwards movement, lunging at Nero whom was drawing out his long deadly pistols.

And thus the battle between two brothers began.

☣

Aeris could feel another of her friends slipping away from the world of the living.

Trying her best to contain her tears, she shakily brushed her fingers through Cloud's spiky, matted hair, his head in her lap, and tried not to think about.

…_Barret, Caith Sith, Reeve, Reno, Tseng, Elena, and Rude…I'm so sorry…_

Vincent was dancing on the threads of grief. She knew what it was he was thinking. It was something she was hoping he would figure out but she hoped that, despite how selfish it might sound, he wouldn't let the death get to him. If he lets the death stop him from achieving his goal, everything…all of this…will have been in vain.

And now she could feel Yuffie slipping away from her.

Tifa and Cloud…they were both slipping too. Physically…mentally….in their hearts, they couldn't handle much more.

Oh how she wanted Cloud to wake up!

They needed to talk before their time came and she knew it would. For what Vincent needed to do, everyone in the complex… _Everyone had to die._

Even Vincent.

Only then could things be set straight. But even if that was going to happen and they wouldn't remember, she wanted Cloud to know, to understand, how she felt.

She didn't love Cloud…well, once upon a time she did. Because…he was so much like _him._ Like her Zack and as horrible as it sounded, when she returned to Zack in the Life Stream, she found out what her true feelings were. She loved Cloud, just as she loved all of her friends and family. Cloud was like her best friend, or her brother. But when it came down to it, she loved Zack and she couldn't change that.

He had to know.

"Aeris?"

A shocked voice from under her fingers caught her attention and with a swift downward glance her emerald orbs were locked with bright blue eyes.

And he smiled. He _smiled._

"Oh Cloud!" she cried, her throat choked with relief of his well being and with the grief of having to tell him the truth.

His hand drifted to her cheek slowly, brushing the cream of her skin gently, "I'm glad you're okay. I was afraid I wouldn't get to see you."

Aeris touched her hand over his and smiled back, "Yeah, me too."

Cloud examined her face, trying to tell if it had changed. No, it was exactly as he remembered her. All warm milky skin, satin brown hair, and emerald eyes. But something was different. Something didn't feel right. Something had changed…

His eyes drifted to her slim hand over his, glancing over her slender fingers, pale and bear.

Then that hand was replaced with another. A hand that was a bit tanner with calloused fingers and scarred knuckles. A glinting diamond ring that swirled around her ring finger. A symbol of their love… Looking up that hand, past the curve of muscle on her arm, he caught sight of black leather and long raven hair. Warm eyes that looked like cherry chocolate warmed over and melted into a swirling sea. She smiled, "Cloud."

"Cloud?"

And just like that, the image of Tifa was gone, replaced by Aeris.

It was then he realized it, with a strength that came with all huge realizations.

He didn't love Aeris. He wasn't sure if he ever really did…not in the way he loved Tifa.

He smiled to himself, taking back his hand.

_He loved Tifa._

"Aeris…there's something I need to tell you."

Aeris knew then. She could tell in the instant that Cloud realized it himself. She was happy then.

"I know, Cloud. Me too. I have to tell you something too."

☣

Zack, Cid and Vince didn't dare move as they watched. It was horrifying and yet, oddly beautiful at the same time. Like when one comes across a horrendous accident or massacre. You just can't look away. Part of you wants to, another doesn't.

Their blades and guns and metal weaponry clanged in flashing shows of hostility, sparking their way through the room. Without those small bursts of light, watching the show would be nearly impossible. Nero and Weiss moved like nothing else. Muscle was bunched whipcord-tight, each thrust playing its own melody as it sang through the air and keened with its partner.

They were so graceful. Nero would roll up onto his knees after a dodge, arcing his arm and back for perfect aim as he shot off rounds lightening quick as Weiss, glowing with a blue majestic fury, would dip and tuck and flip around each lead slug as if it were as slow as the breath of a dieing man.

Black and Silver never looked more beautiful together as the polar opposite brothers battled. Here, Weiss would rush up –seemingly so close to the ground that he was crawling— and would thrust up with his blade in a dazzling arc of silver and death. There, Nero would twist, his metal appendages attaching into the walls in a cement shattering strength, holding him suspended in the air as he kicked at the temple of his beloved brother, firing slug after slug into his muscle clad body.

In all aspects the fight even and neither brother could get leverage over the other. Snarls and grunts and howls were exchanged but for the entire world to see, the suffering of the two seemed to be an endless abyss, stretching on forever and for always.

"They won't get anywhere at this rate…" Zack said softly, his eyes easily following the blinding speed of the brother's attacks.

"They'll get tired eventually. Then we'll kill them both!" Cid exclaimed, his arms crossed and leaning against a cold wall.

Vince looked at Cid with a mix of disgust and a glare.

"What?" Cid whined.

"We have to do something."

Zack's eyes never ceased in their following, "There is nothing we can do."

☣

"You know, you promised me you would live for the both of us…" Aeris said softly, looking out at the make shift fire in the midst of their little tent, the small orb of materia blazing a small warm heat.

Cloud made his eyes connect with hers then. Somewhere within him his heart quivered. He knew he should feel apprehensive now but…

…he wasn't ashamed of what he had done with his life since the last meeting he had with Sephiroth. Touching Aeris' hand within that orb of blue fire, as he felt everything, the air, the sky, the energy from one of the monsters he used to call a comrade in battle, he knew it wasn't meant to be. The ring he had to give wasn't meant to be on that finger…nor did he wish for it to be there.

If Aeris was ashamed with how he chose to spend his life, he would live through it. If that was what made Tifa, Marlene, Denzel and him happy, he would live through that disappointment, as much as it revolted his heart to say.

"I'm so proud of you, Cloud."

He blinked, his blue eyes wide. "Aeris…"

"You're living your life, just as I've always wanted you to," she took his hand then, pushing the palm of his calloused hand upon her cheek. Leaning into the warmth of his living flesh, she began to explain, "I've always loved you, Cloud…but not in a way that one would normally love another person."

Cloud blinked, thoroughly confused.

"I love _you_, Cloud, as I would my best friend or my brother. You've always been there for me. Even when I ran from the group…"

_That sword, so cold, running straight and true through her chest….but it was necessary…to save the world she so desperately loved. To save __**his**__ world and the young man he died trying to save…_

_Blue eyes, wide and sorrowful…her name ringing throughout the confines of the Forgotten City…she would do this for him…_

_…Live on, its what he would've wanted, Cloud…_

_She smiled, her blood running and staining her skin and her dress. The White Materia bound in her hair tinking hollowly as it plummeted to the bottom of the Forgotten City and soon she would follow. To the icy depths of the Lake would she lay and there she would lie in peace._

_And now I lay me down to sleep…_

She smiled, "You came for me. But there was a reason that I felt like I loved you more so than a friend or a comrade or a brother," she touched his cheek, his own hand still on hers, "Because you were so much like _him._"

Finally, Cloud connected it. _Zack._

He waited to see how his heart would react. Shock, first of all he was in shock but after the shock passed no anger came. Nothing but content. He knew now, and when he thought about it, he didn't know why he didn't see it earlier. But he was happy. Happy for Aeris and happy for Zack.

"Have you told him?"

Aeris blinked, "Wha…"

"Did you tell him that you love him, Aeris?" Cloud asked softly, curiously.

Aeris blinked for a moment, digesting the question before leaning away from his touch and giggling softly. Cloud frowned, "What's so funny?"

Aeris shook her head, tilting it to the side in that way she did when she was admiring something and smiled, "Nothing Cloud. I just wasn't expecting that."

"Well, have you?"

"Yes and no," Aeris said after a moment of considering her answer, "I haven't flat out told him but I think he knows."

Cloud snorted.

"What?!" Aeris demanded, crossing her arms.

"Zack isn't the brightest. Sure, he flirts a lot but even so," Cloud shook his head, "He won't believe it until you tell him. He won't connect the dots. Where do you think I get it from?"

Aeris giggled, "I suppose that makes sense too, but don't underestimate him, 'kay? You two aren't completely alike."

"Hey!" Cloud said in mock offense and together they laughed away their fears, unaware of the heartache commencing elsewhere.

☣

His red eyes blazed like a flare in the darkness, reflecting off of the damp glimmering walls like the very fires of hell. The fall hadn't hurt him. Truth be told, he had landed on his feet without any problems and the only part that affected him was the sudden feeling that his stomach was in his throat as he fell weightlessly through the air.

But now he was standing in knee-deep water, lost in a maze that, unknown to him, Cloud had been caught in earlier. Something tugged at his chest, a small warm feeling, nagging and pushing to make him turn around certain corners and avoid others. He didn't know what it was, whether it be the powers of Chaos within him or from some other beast. It could very well be a trap but he didn't care. The fire singing in his blood would push his body past his limits until everything standing in his way was little more than ash.

The monsters…he could tell they were avoiding him. At one point, as he turned a corner, a thick bony point came to rest at his collarbone.

_A sinister voice, caught between some hellish demon and a child's song, called to him from where he suspected in the shadows of the ceiling, the beast hid,_ "_A man. I haven't seen a man down here in ages, Small children in abundance,"__ a hand found its way to his shoulder, slipping to his collar and dipping beneath its cloth. All bone and clammy and rot, "__but not a man! Let me see, let me see…"_

_Another set of hands, just as waterlogged and rotted as the others, came to rest around his middle and his upper torso, pinning down his arms with inhuman strength. His anger bid him to wait until the time would be right. When the most pleasure would come from tearing them to pieces for making Yuffie wait. Within his heart he knew the feeling was wrong but it felt good and this he could not deny._

_A face appeared in front of him then, its rotted skin so pale that it glowed within the darkness, making it hard to see aught else. Twisted sharp teeth bared in a grin, bits of flesh lodged between. The eyes, large, round and watery, staring at him with dark madness. Its facial muscles contorted into a mockery of a grin as hands so similar to the others came up to his face, lifting and pulling in every which way so that the creature might judge his appearance. _

"_Yes, a man indeed. Good work, Kastch, good work indeed," said the creature in front of him, its claws tightening around his face as he tried to pull away from its stench. The claws marred his skin, gauging deep, "Lets hope that doesn't scar, hm?" _

"_I don't think it is a man, Braska. Look at the eyes. No man bares red eyes," said another from the multitude in the darkness._

_A hand amongst the others twitched from under his cloak, fingering its way between the intricate system of his shirt and inching to the waist of his leather pants, "Shall we see then?"_

_Vincent growled a warning, "I'm looking for a woman. Have you seen her?"_

_The hand stopped for a moment, waiting._

"_Nothing but we live in this darkness. Nothing else but we can handle to breath its contents," said one, hands stroking the skin above his lungs, feeling the power of those newly formed organs as they filled and released, "Nothing else but we can see in this," said another as fingers stroked his now closed eyes, "Nothing but we can understand touch down here in this place. Nothing else but we can identify anything in this pitch-black world. Nothing else," it said at last as the foremost creature edged one hand down all in rhythm with the closeness of its face as it nuzzled past the cowl of his cloak to breathe in the skin he had to bare._

_It was then, as his arm broke free of the things, which held him, and as the barrel came into line with the creature's temple did it halt in all of its movements. Its fingers drew back from its place, inches from his waistband, as did all the other hands, backing away from him, it stared at something upon his person with large eyes._

_A mark, much like a bruise, kissed his skin at the collarbone and throat, dipping down and out of sight, under the confines of his shirts. The GeoStigma, while being regulated by the Chaos Cells within him, was returning gradually. Here, so close to her, no amount of power would hold her off forever. Lucrecia had warned him that he had a short amount of time. He knew this but he didn't expect for the first signs of it to return so soon. Thankfully, it was just beneath the skin and not at his lungs just yet. _

_The creatures before him screeched and hissed in fear, as if the very sight of it burned their eyes. Rushing away from him as though he were hell personified, they fled into the darkness of the maze. Straightening out his clothes Vincent turned the other way and began the long trek through the maze once more._

Every since then the marks of the GeoStigma seemed to steam down in the maze, leaving a small trail of moist steam in the air around that area despite his clothing. Since then, the monsters would glance to him curiously before slinking off, back from where they came.

His boots made sloshing noises as he moved through the maze and for a long time that was all Vincent knew. That he should follow the tug in his breast and ignore the eyes of the frightened creatures of Hojo's design. Until finally his feet met dry land, clipping hollowly upon stone, which gradually changed to marble. Passing a door, which was made of reinforced iron, a moist print of a hand fried into its gleam.

_Cloud was here._

Following the hall a little ways further he found another door, one he suspected wasn't there when Cloud first stumbled by. Pushing the double doors open he paused at the door's opening, looking out into the abyss of Hojo's design. A series of labs that spread through the endless hall in a disgusting network.

"Yuffie, where are you?"

☣

Sorry the chapter is so short but that's it for now! Don't kill me, I didn't mean to make any of you wait this long!

-Spazzy


	19. Remembering You

**Music: At Wit's End - Pirates of the Caribbean, At World's End OST & Iris LIVE - Goo Goo Dolls**

Chapter 19: Remembering You**  
**

_I know you'll come, Vincent, because you always do. You always have, you always will. Because you are you._

_You came for us in the past when we needed you. You were always there. You sacrificed so much for us, for the world…for Her. During the Deep Ground Events, you selflessly led the way to battle._

_You pretend to be a lone wolf, Vincent. You refuse help from others, you don't like getting attached, you don't allow yourself to get attached but…_

_…I think you have. A part of you enjoys this life, Vincent. Deep within yourself you enjoy us, enjoy our company. I see your small smiles and hear your soft chuckles when you think no one else sees or hears. I don't think you even notice. Because we're your home._

_And because of that…you'll protect us until the very end, won't you, Vincent?_

_Like you protect Her…_

_I finally understand now…I know what is to come, what you are going to do. Your mind is set and I can't change that. I know that either way, no matter what, everything shall heal, if you do what you plan to do. But even so…. Please…_

_Please come. I want to see you before the end. Before you fix everything. Before I can tell you what I've been wanting to tell you for so long and so that I can tell you what I've just come to realize as well. _

_I know that after all of this, when you've done what you've set out to do…I won't remember this. Any of this. Everything will change, even you…and all these memories I love will be gone…forever. But you won't forget. You can't. So please come._

_You promised, didn't you? You won't leave until I'm ready to let go?_

_Vincent…I'm waiting…_

* * *

Vincent's eyes shot wide open, eerie red orbs scanning anything and everything. He had closed his eyes for but a moment but…Yuffie…her voice was definitely the owner of those words he heard. Yuffie was here, waiting for him.

His feet made hollow clicks upon the sterile floors of the labs. If he thought the complex itself was demented, imagine his surprise when he entered the labs. He should have expected this from Hojo, the insane ass.

The hallway was innocent looking enough and upon first entering the labs, despite their lack of lighting, he thought that perhaps they had gone unused. But this was one of Hojo's facilities and there would be no way he would put this much time and money into a facility only to have it go unused. Plus, he had Yuffie. One of the rooms had to have been…"worn in", so to speak.

He took a quick path to the closest door and peaked in through the small window placed high upon the wood of the door, a window that looked in but could not be looked out of. Darkness…

He glanced to his right where a small switch was and his brain quickly went through all of the possibilities as to why the room was darker than hell itself.

_For one, the room could just be unused…_

_…No, that wasn't it._ Vincent knew that wasn't it. The room…the feeling it gave off was just _wrong._ No normal room would let off such intense feelings. Rooms do not feel, they just remember. Remember what happens within…and reflect.

The light could be off for only two other reasons… Hojo was a cruel man. It wouldn't be unthinkable for him to simply turn off the lights to make his specimen to go insane… 

Vincent shuddered just thinking about it. Being stuck in a small room, dank and rotting, with no windows, no light, no hope of escape and suddenly the room would feel just that much smaller. That much more inescapable, that much more like death. Between heartbeats and smells and indistinct voices, who wouldn't lose their mind?

In Nibelheim Vincent didn't have to worry about that. Hojo was…lacking…in specimen in those days and if he wasn't in his healing tube then he was in one of Hojo's favorite labs. Hojo's favorite lab happened to be full of sharp and pointy objects of all shapes, sizes and purposes but thankfully, it was also rather large. Even though Hojo left him in the dark for long periods of time, he had plenty of space and Hojo was never gone for long.

However…the coffin was a completely different issue and he could relate with the horrifying feeling.

Or maybe the creature within…simply could not withstand anything other than complete darkness? Vincent had gone through a…similar experiment once.

If he was lucky…the room would be empty.

With a little hesitation, he flicked his wrist, nimbly flipping the switch and turning on the lights within the room…

Only to jerk back a little with the sight of a face thrusting its way to the small window in the door, snarling and foaming. Its eyes were dark and wide, showing off the white of the ball, and delirious in its bloodlust. Fangs and jowls were flecked with froth and foam. It clawed at the window and door, its nails making thick, deep gashes in the door and glass. Its skin was dark with filth and infection.

Vincent took a step back, his hand darting to his gun handle but suddenly the creature paused, unaware of the thick steam coming up from its leathery hide. It looked at him, despite the effects of the one sided window, with one eye, then with the other, like a large bird of prey. Then, just as suddenly, it let out a heart stopping screech and pressed itself up against the door as hard as it could as if trying to break through the door to get to Vincent.

"Father! Father!" It screeched again and again and again, thrusting and throwing itself against the door over and over but the door would not yield. Vincent took another step back, eyes wide.

_Father?_

The smoke coming from its hide caught its attention now and it shrieked in pain and fear, "Father!" it howled helplessly like a frightened child.

Vincent shook his head and continued to back away from the image of the frightened and demented create. His eyes flicked to a small file hanging in a cubby by the door. The file cover said #XXXII. He reached for it, eyes flicking between it and the creature behind the door. Flipping the file open he began to read.

**Experiment # XXXII**

**Sex: Male**

**Observation on prolonged exposure to MAKO and JENOVA cells. Genetic graphing subject, bat. Cannot handle exposure to light of any kind. **

**Failure.**

Vincent glanced to the creature. Could it sense the JENOVA within him? Setting the file back into its cubby, trying to ignore the picture of the man he once was, he turned the lights off and set off down the hallway once more. He would take care of all of Hojo's experiments later. Right now, he needed to find Yuffie.

* * *

"Weiss…" Nero whispered on a breath that escaped his lungs. They were close now. Nero was pinned to a wall, dangling a few feet from the ground and held up only by the blade in his upper right shoulder. The wound stung and oozed and blazed with a painful fury. His brother kept the pressure of the sword snug as he leaned in to get a good look at his brother's pained face.

"Hmm?" Weiss hummed in question, tilting his head a bit to the side so that he and his brother were a breaths way from being cheek to cheek.

_Together…we were born into a world of heartless experimentation._

"Is this truly what you want…Weiss…?" Nero asked, ignoring the blood oozing from the corner of his mouth as he finally recognizes the partner of Weiss' blades had been buried in his stomach all along, helping him to stay pinned to the wall at even with Weiss' cold stare.

Weiss merely continued to scrutinize his younger brother's face. A face that before he couldn't recognize. But with Hojo's control slowly slipping the further he ventured away and the more he gazed into those dark orbs, the more he came to realize…

_Together…we laid to rest in a hail of bullets and dreams we didn't own._

"Nero…" Weiss said, recognition slipping into his voice ever so slightly.

Nero's eyes never strayed from his own. The dark orbs were unaware of the pain of death and were completely concentrating on just one thing. Weiss. They were serious and they were hurt and they were all Nero. All his little brother.

_Weiss watched his brother scream and scratch at the small pinprick of a wound at the bend of his arm where sick black lines were spreading through his veins. The G Substance…_

_"Nero!" Weiss called to his little brother. Why was this happening to them? They were but children! How could humanity do this to other people? He scrabbled over to his little brother, grabbing the small lithe body and pulling the trembling form as close to him as he possibly could despite the bars, which separated them. _

_They were trapped in cages meant for large dogs, reinforced for their new…abilities… _

_Nero let out a soft 'hic' as he calmed slightly, tears trailing down his unnaturally pale cheeks. His large dark orbs drifted up to those of his elder brother and said, "I want to die."_

_Weiss eyes were large then. Large, surprised, hurt and dejected. No child should have to say that…but they knew nothing us but the sting of needles, the pain of foreign serums, the horrors of knifes, experimentations and the dull lights of florescent bulbs. They knew not of parents or friendship or love. They only knew that there was but one constant in the world. Each other and the hope that their brother would come for them…_

_…Genesis…_

_"But before I die…" Nero said softly, "I want to be loved."_

_Weiss looked down to his brother, both pressed as close to the bars between them as possible, he whispered, "I will love you, Nero. But before I do, there is something I must do."_

_"Then I will follow you until that is done," Nero said, "and then…"_

_Weiss smiled, his hand curling around his younger brother's hand, ignoring the sting of the Sable. He would get used to it…for him._

_"And then we will be together. Forever," said Weiss._

_"And together," Nero said, tightening his hold on his brother's hand, "We shall die."_

_Weiss hummed in agreement. _

_Together we are born and together we shall die._

"Is this what you had left to do…before we die?" Nero asked, his voice cold and trusting.

Weiss pulled back his face a bit to look him in the eye.

_"Together we shall take these lands beneath the city as our own. Together we shall lead these men, the forgotten army of ShinRa and we shall make a place in this world for our kind, Nero. We shall that those whom put us as we are get the judgment they deserve and when that is done and all the wrongs of ShinRa are known to the world…We will be together and the roles will be reversed," he said, looking to Nero, "And I will follow whatever path you choose."_

_Nero simply gazed at him, his dark sable orbs familiar and deep and filled with understanding. Only he knew Weiss, only he, "Together…we will go to __**him.**__"_

_Weiss nodded, "Yes. But first, I must perform a SND and find the cure of the virus created by the Restrictors."_

_Nero nodded. His constant._

"I should have stopped you then, Brother," Nero's voice interrupted Weiss' thoughts, "I should have stopped you from performing an SND. We all knew the recently reformed NetWork was unstable. I should have made you send the girl…Hojo's digital self wiggled itself within you during your search…and you were lost to me."

Weiss simply watched, his mind slowly reforming within itself, refusing to be battered down by Hojo, building up walls of self-protection so that, if only for a moment, he could truly see his brother. One last time...

"I promised to follow you. Until that day you promised me would come. I thought that day had come already…" Nero trailed.

_He was slumped and bleeding in torrents, leaning heavily against the metal wall behind him. He could feel the parasite, Hojo, detach and form a holographic form from his shoulder once more and it drained him. Why even bother anymore? How long had he tried to gain release from this lunatic's clutches? He laughed at the irony of his situation. He promised Nero he would kill all of the horrors of ShinRa, including its scientists and yet he found one lodged within his very mind!_

_He stared at his bloodied hand in a daze, his katana-revolver nowhere to be found. That's when he felt it. He knew he was there all along but with Hojo and Omega and everything else occupying his mind, he couldn't truly have been sure._

_"__**Weiss…Weiss…Weiss…"**_

_"Impossible!" Hojo stuttered like a small boy who had been caught red handed, "Get…Get out of me! Omega's host must be pure! Why do you think I had to create MAKO untainted by JENOVA? A filthy demon like you infected it! Ah!"_

_"__**Silence…"**__Nero snarled, venom in his whisper._

_"Wha?" Hojo mumbled unintelligibly._

_**"Silence!" **__Nero said, angered by Hojo's interference,__** "I am speaking with my Brother."**_

_"Wha?" Hojo repeated._

_**"Weiss…"**_

_"Ah…Nero," Weiss whispered in a breath that sounded defeated and ashamed._

_"No!" Hojo whimpered._

_**"Brother," **__Nero said, getting down on his knees beside his brother, one hand on either of Weiss' shoulders,__** "Let us become one. Let us come together so that none may never tear us apart!" **__he said, his tone hurt by the events prior to this, when Hojo forced Weiss against him. To kill him._

_Nero leaned into Weiss, leaning his head upon his elder Brother's shoulder, his younger nature showing through the pain and the sorrow._

_"Yes," Weiss said in a rough whisper, his chin resting in Nero's dark, wild hair, "Let us…let us go join __**him.**_

_**"Weiss…"**__ Nero whispered, his voice caught between the pains of what Hojo had done to them and the joy of finding his brother once more. He loved his Brother as any younger Brother would, admiring his strength and his courage. Willing to die for the one he saw a role model. _

_Nero's form pulsed with dark energy, his Sable energies brimming just under his skin and melting him down into pure darkness so that he might meld perfectly with his Brother. He wouldn't lose him again…_

_"Nero," Weiss spoke softly, breathing in his brother and allowing him into his body. His younger Brother was always there for him. He would honor his promise now…for his Brother._

_"No! Stop it! You can't! This is my body now!" Hojo whined and cried and whimpered as Weiss got to his wobbling feet. In his daze and his joy at being reunited with his brother and soon to find his other one, he made his way to the collected Life Stream and with each step, his form grew brighter and brighter and Hojo's pain became worse and worse until finally Hojo erupted as Weiss' body, the carrier of Omega and Hojo and Nero, disintegrated into the beautiful blue lights of the Life Stream._

_The Proto-Materia plummeted to the bottom of the collected Life Stream much like the Materia once owned by a certain flower girl which also plummeted to the bottom of an abyss upon its owner's death._

"Nero…" Weiss whispered, his younger Brother's face completely clear now and free from Hojo's veil of lies, "No…"

Nero blinked, his ivory skin glowing against the contradiction of the stains of crimson upon his face. It was his turn to be surprised now. His Sable flitted and fluttered around him, agitated by being held back from saving its host, "Weiss?"

And again Weiss was reminded of the innocence and unending loyalty in those eyes. Nero, who had been raised in cruelty and darkness and pain, knew only of loyalty and trust for only one person. While he had been forced to learn how to survive he was more like Peter Pan. A boy beneath a man's skin, with a heart that was strong, even if deterred just slightly the wrong way… He was trusting Weiss to lead him into peace. Instead, Weiss had led him into deception and murder.

In another place and time, he was sure that Nero would have become an amazing young man…

His hand curled around Nero's limp one, "I love you, Little Brother."

Nero's eyes went wide with disbelief, bitterness and fragile hope. He would follow Weiss no matter what but…

"I'm so tired…Nero," his silver brows drew together, "I'm so tired…"

Vince watched, not completely able to understand what was happening but still understanding it on a different level."

Zack simply watched, his face a mix of different expressions.

Cid was shocked out of his pants.

"I'm tired of leading, Nero. I've done what I wished to do. I love you as my Brother and now its time for you to lead," he said softly, resting his head upon Nero's shoulder, "Lead us home, Brother."

Nero smiled, aware of the change of roles, "To join him?"

Weiss breathed out and closed his eyes, completely trusting, "To wherever you want to call home."

Vince, Zack and Cid couldn't look away despite the feeling that they were violating something, like it was a scene not meant for anyone to see.

Nero and Weiss were slowly becoming encompassed by the swirling colors of the Life Stream. The blues of Weiss' soul and the dark purples of Nero's and as they faded Nero leaned his face into the soft crazy silver spikes of his brother's, just as Weiss had once done to him, and sighed, "Together, we are always home."

And together, smiling, they died.

* * *

Sephiroth stopped in the dank hallways of the complex, tipping his chin down a bit and closing his eyes.

_Nero and Weiss have just died, Mother…_

_"Yes, I know," she whispered to him within his head, "But do not worry, all is well."_

"I'm not worried," Sephiroth said shortly to himself, continuing his walk down the maze of halls and towards the labs to do as his Mother requested of him.

"_Bring me Vincent Valentine. Bring to me your Father."_

"Yes, Mother," Sephiroth said, never looking back down the hall he walked through, dripping and oozing and sticky with the sea of blood which once belonged to the last of the WRO soldiers uncontrolled by JENOVA, "Whatever you desire."

* * *

Vincent refused to try any other cell windows after that. He didn't want to have to deal with what that would mean. He simply would snatch the files silently, gloss over them, then set them down when he was convinced it wasn't Yuffie and continue. The long single hall of the lab seemed to stretch on forever but finally he noticed something.

About thirty-seven cells down, counting only the right side of the hall, he found a small blood stained hospital bed made for transferring patients. However, this bed was equipped with something he found quite familiar…straps.

_The lights above made his pupils constantly move, trying to keep the surroundings even and prevent the momentary blindness between the dark and the light. Vincent felt so dizzy, his head spinning and swirling. He could barely keep his thoughts together before they would fall like sand between his fingers. _

_"Vincent, Vincent, Vincent, now look what you've made me do," said a voice from somewhere above and behind him. With a giggle he bit his lip and tipped his head to look. All he got in return was an upside down view of a rather shiny belt buckle. This made Vincent wrinkle his nose. Belt buckles don't talk…_

_"…Vincent…wow, this is a new low," said the voice and suddenly the bed stopped. Vincent he the scritch-scratch of a pen upon paper, "Lower dosage of sedative…hopefully the new dosage won't kill your brain cells. I bet you've never been high before either."_

_Vincent merely crossed his eyes at the buckle and tipped his head back, suddenly reminded of why lights were annoying once more, his scrunched them shut._

_**You know, you could probably break free now, Valentine. I bet the idiot didn't strap the materials of this blasted contraption too tight.**_

_…That didn't sound like the belt buckle…Vincent's brows drew close in forced concentration._

_**…Seriously, Valentine, this is sad. Trust me, okay? Try and move your arms.**_

_Vincent shrugged, why not? Couldn't hurt to try. He tried to move his arms and frowned at the feeling of leather biting his wrists. Hey! That's definitely not cool…_

_The voice sighed, __**Oh Dear Omega, why me?**_

It wasn't one of his more…pleasant...memories. It was actually quite degrading, really. In the long run he did escape with Chaos' help and much to Hojo's surprise, almost got out of the labs. If it weren't for the fact that he took a wrong turn, he probably would've gotten out, to town and fallen asleep somewhere if it wasn't for that fact. However, when Hojo awoke from unconsciousness (which was thanks to a quick sharp turn that Vincent took and Hojo couldn't, resulting in him colliding rather harshly with a wall) and checked all of the labs he was rather surprised to find Vincent hiding in a storage closet with a bucket over his head, curled up close and tight. When Hojo asked him what he was doing…which was more like, 'what the hell are you doing?' Vincent simply peeked at him from under the bucket, told him to 'sshh', that he was hiding, smiled and went back under his bucket.

Demonic strength and untrustworthy sedatives just didn't go very well together, he guessed.

Shrugging the demeaning memory off, Vincent looked at what had originally caught his attention. Not the bed but what was under it. A small shiny, colorful, glass orb.

Materia.

Yuffie. He was closer now.

He turned to look at the door at the very end of the hallway. A door that was a good ten cells down. That was it, he was certain. Even from his distance ten cells away Vincent could tell that it had no files beside its doorframe.

Plus, the blood pooling out from under the door was kind of a dead give away because with his luck, Yuffie would be in the cell filled with blood.

Lady luck was really a bitch sometimes.

* * *

**Alright, here is where it ends for now. Until the next chapter that is, of course! Which will hopefully be coming sometime soon!**

**So, if anyone has any questions, review and I'll be happy to answer them. **

_**By the way, this was not a yaoi chapter. It was brotherly love and nothing else! You know how Weiss and Nero are. They love each other a lot…in a purely brotherly way and that's what I wanted to portray. Not that I find anything wrong with yaoi…its just not present in this case.**_

**Please review! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed in the past and I hope you guys continue to read this until the very end. **

**-Spazzy**


	20. New Ambitions

Chapter 20: New Ambitions

Vincent gave a swift look over his shoulder, paused in his step as he did so, to finally give in to the annoying feeling that someone was behind him, following him, watching him…

Nothing.

Of course it was nothing. He shook his head and turned back around to face the door before him, the door he believed that contained Yuffie. The lights of the hall seemed to flicker and fade as he took the last few steps to his destination.

_Fire, so much fire. It licked through the town of Nibelheim in seconds. Before anyone knew what had happened, everything was gone. A figure, tall and strong…Silver hair. Sephiroth._

Vincent closed his eyes and tried to open his mind. Something, perhaps whatever Chaos left behind, was trying to warn him of something.

But what?

However, as he opened his eyes, he found himself being sucked into something much stronger than himself. As though something had sunk its claws into his soul and was dragging him, slowly, away from his body and into a place completely different.

Vincent barely had time to register the fact that he was falling by the time the assault of images hit him, literally, head on.

_Long slender fingers combed through his messy hair, his form curled and his head in the owner of those fingers' lap. He moaned softly and try as he might, he could not open his eyes. He didn't really care._

_"Look at what you're doing, My Love. No matter where you go you always seem to have chaos and destruction nipping at your heals. But I don't mind," whispered the voice of someone achingly familiar, "Its one of the things I love about you, Vincent."_

_What was this woman talking about, Vincent wondered, but the question fled as quickly as it had entertained him as the soft fingers caressed his scalp again. He nearly purred in contentment…nearly. _

_"But I must admit that I'm hurt. You must truly hate me, My Love, if you are willing to do what you are about to do. But maybe…" the fingers paused in their travels and he just about whimpered in disappointment, "You don't know the things at risk if you continue?"_

_"You're killing them, Vincent."_

_Vincent gasped as everything seemed to melt away. Suddenly, he was alone. He stood in the darkness; the only thing visible was the soft glow of his own red eyes. Vincent spun on heel and did a Three-Sixty but he couldn't make out anything._

_The world seemed to suddenly spin and lurch. His head was pounding, his breath coming out in strangled gasps, until finally the ground gave out beneath him and he was falling._

_Falling…falling…falling…_

_Into Darkness._

_He met the ground with a bone-rattling thump and remained in his supine position for as long as he dared. There was no pain, he realized, only exhaustion. Slowly he got to his feet his surroundings suddenly clear._

_They were all there, each within their own crystal. Crystals just like the one which once held Lucrecia Crescent. The surreal feeling only worsened when he realized that, just like his lost love, they each wore robes that fit their souls perfectly. Each robe concealed them just right, caught in an unmovable current, which made them look otherworldly and beautiful. _

_Cloud, Tifa, Yuffie, Reeve, Cid, Barret, Aeris, Zack, and even Red and Caith Sith, whom both lacked robes. All of them had their eyes closed; their hands either lay prone at their sides or held their weapons in front of them. _

_Vincent twirled to look at them all, each crystal placed in a circle around him. Upon the floor, he was startled to find a mosaic of crystal and rare gems. They glittered in the light the crystals gave off. The mosaic was beautiful, actually, to a point, which made it hurt his heart to look at. It portrayed the swirls of the Life Stream, which flows within the planet and within every living thing._

_"Do you know why you're here, Vincent?" Lucrecia…_

_Vincent spun to look as Lucrecia suddenly appeared behind him as if she had always been there. She wore the same celestial white robes that she wore in the crystal, which entombed her. They seemed to flow as though caught within the whim of water and not air. She smiled, her eyes sparkling but for some reason Vincent couldn't tell what color they were, only that they were beautiful. She steadily came closer to him until finally she was standing right beside him._

_"…" Vincent simply watched her silently, waiting._

_She glanced to him, "What happened to them, Vincent, all depends on what you choose. Especially for him…"_

_Vincent noticed, just then, that his younger self also had a crystal. Vince's crystal, by far, seemed to have the most radiant and powerful glow._

_"He is strong willed and pure of heart, more so now than ever. You've changed him, Vincent, just as AVALANCHE has. But are you willing to do this to him?" Lucrecia asked softly, soothingly and rationally._

_Vincent looked to his younger self. It was odd, Vincent thought, to see his younger version crystallized before him. Vince seemed peaceful in his icy tomb, his dark blue robes, the color of the night itself, suited him perfectly and the robes almost seemed to have the lights of stars within it. _

_"He is set on saving you, Vincent, just as you want to save him from knowing his future. You two don't view each other yourselves, but as another person entirely, which is rather odd, don't you think? Your motives are not selfish…"_

_Vincent glanced to Lucrecia, very near glaring, "Is it truly so odd?"_

_Lucrecia glanced to him and shrugged._

_Vincent looked away and diverted his attention to the others. It was then that he noticed something was off with some of his comrades. Barret, Caith Sith, Reeve, Aeris, and Zack seemed to shimmer in and out of vision just ever so slightly, while the others simply glowed with an inner light. Yuffie seemed to be a cross of the two. _

_"The ones that shimmer are dead, Vincent, and if you continue with this charade they will all die."_

_Vincent looked to Lucrecia, startled. She seemed darker now, her tone not quite so soothing. _

_"Aeris and Zack are both in the realm of the living but they have been dead for quite some time. So, Vincent…can you handle going through with what you plan to do knowing that all of them will die for it?"_

_Vincent looked at them all again, one by one. _

_Cloud and Tifa were going to get married…Tifa was pregnant. They had a family…was his course noble enough to give justification to breaking that apart?_

_Red XIII had a pack now. Reeve was the leader of the WRO. Yuffie was going to be the leader of an Empire. Barret had his daughter and his business. Cid had his wife and his airship. _

_Vince had his own decisions to make._

_Going through with his plan…would it be another sin? A selfish part of his mind said it wouldn't matter in the end. No one would remember, in the end._

_But he would remember…Vince would remember._

_Vincent felt his heart erupt in turmoil and clutched it absentmindedly as he looked around. Then he felt a subtle cool touch on his shoulder spin him to face his beloved._

_"What would you have me do?" Vincent whispered._

_Lucrecia searched his eyes for a long moment and in that moment it never struck Vincent as odd that he could not see the color of her eyes nor the intent behind them._

_"Would submitting to her truly be so awful?" She whispered._

_The question startled Vincent so badly that he actually stepped away from her touch, giving them a fair amount of space before looking at her in confusion, "Lucrecia…you can't be serious…"_

_"She can save you, Vincent," she smiled the smile of a fox, "She can save your friends too. She'll make sure they have good lives until the End, Vincent. I can save you."_

_Vincent's eyes suddenly blared into life, a mixture of red hot flame and amber sun, "JENOVA."_

_Lucrecia smiled, "I can be whatever you want me to be, Vincent. Lucrecia…JENOVA…do you fancy younger woman? Men? I can be whatever you need, Vincent, if you would simply submit."_

_Vincent growled and backed up as JENOVA approached, "Get out of her!"_

_Lucrecia stopped and arched a slender, brown brow, "You don't want Lucrecia?" _

_"That's her body and she has done nothing to deserve her body being tainted by your influence," Vincent snarled._

_JENOVA smiled, her image as Lucrecia fading and shimmering until she took a new form entirely. Yuffie._

_"Does she suit your pleasures, Vincent? Or what of the Bar Tender? Or the wretched Flower Girl? …Perhaps the Pilot? Cloud?"_

_Vincent reached for his gun and was warmed at the familiar feel of its grip. In one fluid movement he had Cerberus drawn and aimed, "Get. Out."_

_She smiled and her form changed into that of Sephiroth, "Perhaps you fancy my son?"_

_Vincent's eyes flashed pure gold in that moment, "He is not your son! None of this would have happened if you hadn't deluded the mind of that idiotic scientist! If you hadn't tainted Lucrecia's pregnancy!"_

_"I believe that you are jealous, Vincent, of the fact that Hojo got the woman you loved and not you. You deserved her love the most, after all, didn't you? It was you who got her soft glances and words of sweet nothings, was it not? You were the one who gave her reprieve from ShinRa's stressful ambitions and Hojo's mad experiments. It was you that loved her. So…why him?" JENOVA asked, her form changing to that of the scientist at a younger age, back when Vincent knew him as a Turk and not as the result of experiments, "Why me?"_

_Vincent glared, "If she was happy, it didn't really matter."_

_Hojo's expression turned from shock to distain to curiosity. With each step he took closer to Vincent, Hojo gradually shifted into JENOVA's form. A woman, her skin gray in pallor, her lips pale, her eyes pink, and her hair silver hair fluttered as though caught in a wind just for her. _

_"You astound me, Vincent Valentine. There is not a single selfish bone in your body, is there? So it comes to a shock, actually, to believe that you would sacrifice the lives of your comrades for such a selfish cause. Their lives all because you do not want to submit?"_

_Vincent felt the guilt that had been building within him begin to overflow. He had no right to do this to them…to any of them. Several of them had already died and for what? A part of his mind screamed that JENOVA would destroy everything once she got what she wanted but the thought plucked from his mind by an outside force._

_"Is loving me so horrible?" she whispered in his ear, her skin changing from that deadly gray to a healthy, flushed color. Her eyes faded from pink to brown, her hair glittered and fell to caress her back, "I would take good care of you, Vincent. I could erase the pain, if you wished it. I could erase all the harmful memories, the struggles of you past…" _

_"I could erase your sins, if you wished it so."_

_Vincent's eyes returned to red and flew wide in shock, his breath caught within his throat._

_"Vincent?"_

_He looked down at her, his eyes wide and dreadfully confused. His thoughts were becoming sluggish now…_

_She drew nearer to him; her body flush with his, her lips a breaths width away. _

_"I would love you, Vincent, in the way that you've always longed to be loved. You wouldn't have to strive for my affection as you had to with that woman. Be mine in body, in soul and in mind. Be mine forever."_

_Vincent's mind was numb now. Something in the back of his subconscious was screaming. _

You promised…you promised to come for me, Vincent.

_Vincent breathed, the fog in his mind clearing just as JENOVA nuzzled his neck, her fangs pressing lovingly to him, ready to brand him forever, "Yuffie."_

_JENOVA's eyes flew wide, suddenly blazing pink, and turned her head up to look into his suddenly clear red eyes. He gave her a small knowing and smug smile, "I have somewhere I need to be."_

_He could recall JENOVA screaming as the crystals around them shattered and he was falling again. Falling until finally what was upside down was right side up and he collided with his boneless heap of a body._

Vincent's eyes shot open to meet blazing, steely gray. Fowl breath caressed his face as those unblinking eyes judged him. He glanced quickly to his left. The cell door he had been trying to reach for all this time was open now, blood was edging out from the doorway like a promise of death.

"The man awakens," the voice sent shivers down his spine and wasn't much unlike nails on a chalkboard. Those eyes did not recognize him as friend but as prey and a good time.

"…Yuffie…"

Yuffie's jowls were a mess of a death trap. Nail like teeth jutted out at angles of all sort and at some points, penetrated the thick black skin of her lips. He bone configuration had altered considerably, now more mammal like than human. She rested heavily on her haunches, feet now contorted into ugly, rough paws and claws. Her flesh, a messy of thick black hide, fur and scale, was matted with dried blood that was not her own. Her form was larger now, much closer to the size of a dragon than to anything remotely human.

Metal shoulder blades glowed in flickered, the mechanical influence obvious to Vincent's observation. He glanced back to her eyes and noticed the blood lust there.

"All the others died, you know. The chamber's Time Materia made them age…but with the door open, the lab is now completely susceptible to it. So…Why aren't you influenced by it, Human?" the creature chortled, "Are you not a man?"

Vincent remained silent.

"That woman…I can sense it. She is _strong_ within you," Yuffie chuckled deeply before leaning down to sniff at her prey, "But not just that. You aren't like the others who are tainted…these cells are different…unique. They are melding with another…"

Vincent froze. The JENOVA cells in his body were adapting and melding to the Chaos cells? …That was _not_ good.

The creature blinked and laughed harshly in Vincent's face before leaning up a bit, shifting its clawed grip that had Vincent pinned to the marble floor before tilting her head, "You are marked as wanted. She wants to bed you. You refuse?"

Vincent nearly blushed at her rude and undignified manner of speaking…nearly.

She took a closer look at his abnormal red eyes before grinning, "_Chaos_…Omega's Squire. Why do you look so weak?"

Vincent growled but did not move. His anger was not so much at Yuffie as it was at Hojo. How could he do this to her? But then again, Vincent really should have gotten used to seeing things like this thanks to Hojo.

"Yuffie."

The creature let out a howl of laughter, "That girl is dead, Chaos. Pressed like a cowering child in the recesses of my mind."

Vincent's eyes flashed.

The creature grinned curiously, "Have you a temper, Chaos?"

The creature's claws flexed within Vincent's flesh, pressing deeper through his shoulders, until finally Vincent though he could contain his anger no more. It was then that he heard her.

_"Vincent!"_

Yuffie…

_She was strapped to a cold metal lab table, the light bright and glaring in her eyes. She tossed her head from side to side, searching for reprieve from its merciless light. Hojo only chuckled and continued to write away at the thick stack of papers on the desk beside the table. _

_"Everything is developing quite well, Miss Kisaragi. I'm quite proud of your progress."_

_"They'll come, you know. You won't get away with this!" the young woman growled and struggled valiantly with her bindings._

_Hojo only laughed gently under his breath, "But I'm already getting away with it."_

_"They'll come! They'll save me! He'll kill you!"_

_"Who?" Hojo asked her, mocking curiosity as an adult would when a child said something creatively outrageous. _

_"Vincent will come," Yuffie said softly, his words fluttering with her head. He promised…_

_"Of course he will, Miss Kisaragi, now stay still. If I don't mark the right vein the serums won't go in correctly. The result will be painful and fatal, I'm afraid."_

_"Don't brush me off!" Yuffie screamed, "I'm serious. He'll come and he'll kill you, you demented asshole!"_

_"Temper, temper, Miss Kisaragi. Of course he will come," Hojo said as he peered carefully at the veins on her right arm, "Please settle down."_

_"Settle down?! Oh you asshole! Telling me to settle down. If you're going to do all this shit to me the least you could do is act like you believe me!"_

_Hojo marked the vein and location with a marker as he turned in his chair to mark more things down on the notes. His tone grew serious and gentle, "Oh, you don't need to tell me, Miss Kisaragi. I _know_ that he will come for you. He always does."_

_"Then why the hell aren't you trembling in your boots?!" Yuffie snarled as Hojo grabbed a rather long needle and syringe beside him._

_Hojo turned to her and flicked at the syringe to clear it of air bubbles. He glanced to her, "This is a sedative, Miss Kisaragi, and afterwards you will never be in the same state of mind as you are now. Any last words as a human?"_

_He had expected the young woman to sob, to scream, to plead, to cower and beg. Yuffie Kisaragi did none of those things._

_She simply glared, "He will come for me."_

_Hojo sighed, rolled his eyes, and aligned the syringe to its proper place, "Oh course he will come. He will come but he will not save you."_

_Hojo injected Yuffie with the sedative in one fluid movement and withdrew the empty syringe. He was mildly surprised to see that the effects were not immediate._

_Yuffie's vision blurred but her mind was on fire with rage, "Why do you think that? Don't underestimate him!"_

_Hojo sighed, "I've known Vincent Valentine far longer than you, Princess. I've known him as an employee of ShinRa, as a murderer, and as a man in love with a woman he couldn't have. He will come and he will fail to save you."_

_Yuffie growled as the sedative began its final run through her system, threatening to send her plummeting into darkness. But she did not give in, not without hearing Hojo's departing words._

_"He always comes, Mrs. Kisaragi, I'll give him that. Just never in time."_

_…Vincent…. _

The creature suddenly felt the air grow unnaturally still, as though it was drawn into the man below her and had pressed into him. His gravelly voice was more of a growl than the tone of a man, "There is still time."

With that said, a shockwave thrust the creature roughly into the opposite wall of the hall and through its flimsy frame.

Vincent stood slowly, reason wavering in a constant war between giving into rage and keeping cool within his mind. Black static licked his body and danced in the wreckage of his surroundings.

The creature brought itself to full height, its maw of a mouth spilt its face in a frightening grin and excitement danced in its monstrous eyes, "Yes, yes! Yes, let we monsters battle! Let us fight!"

_You're not a monster, Vincent…you can't be._

The red haze that had clouded Vincent's judgment shuddered under the voice of the lost ninja. Vincent shook his head, trying to settle his thoughts, when the creature swung its thick trunk of a tail into the gunner's torso.

The sickening crunch of his ribcage yielding to the force of the blow rung out through the hall as Vincent was knocked into the cell the creature had escaped from.

Vincent slid in the aftermath of Yuffie's bloodlust, staining his red cloak darker and splashing up upon his skin to reveal how pale he was in comparison.

_Blood, so much blood._

Vincent's veins were on fire.

_Experiments…Hojo, the JENOVA project, Lucrecia giving herself to a being unworthy of her kindness…Sephiroth._

Images flew through Vincent's vision faster than light itself. The creature grew closer.

_Injections, needles, so much pain, surgery without anesthesia, knives, charts, bone reconfiguration, contraptions to sooth the transformations, small dark containment cells, no food…_

The cells within him blazed into life but they were not under his control…were they ever? He thought so. Chaos was gone.

_Cells bonding, different voices not his own, mind numbing pain, weakness, strength, lack of sunlight, fluorescent lights, no hope, she died… The end of days, a large rock in the sky, a silver haired angel, death, victory at the hands of a young man, numberless._

The creature laughed at the sight of the being before her. Pathetic, truly pathetic, this creature, this twitching mass of pain and misery, was going to kill her? Hardly. She raised one large clawed appendage to end the man's misery.

Vincent's eyes rose up in a flash to look at the creature blocking out the light in the hall, its huge silhouette rising in a finishing blow. His eyes fluttered under his hooded lids.

_Soft hands, comfort, warmth, she's calling. GeoStigma. The end of days, a large rock in the sky, a silver haired angel, death, three remnants, not truly men not truly Him. Blonde hair, spiked, sword, rushing into the fray, a tower, lending a hand, fly, dragon in the sky, blue fire, Her son dies again. _

Vincent screamed and grabbed his head.

_A woman captured in a glowing case of MAKO, a celebration, sins, death of innocents, his fault, ProtoMateria, Chaos, no control, man in blue, young girl, Her voice, woman in red, Omega, man in black, ruins of ShinRa, ShinRa Manor, loss, dying, losing control, darkness, return of ProtoMateria, return of control._

His eyes were on fire, the creature thought idly, and couldn't bring herself to look away from those blazing irises. They were the colors of chaos. Dark red, nearly black, at the edges…the brightest of amber in their middles and the faintest of pinks embracing the dazed black pupils that were rapidly contracting and expanding.

The young ninja's voice broke through the thick walls of the creature's psyche, "_That's not Vincent."_

_The fall of its Master, falling into the ashes with it, the Squire returns to the Life Stream. Falling in the darkness, exhaustion, regaining strength, saying goodbye, the waterfall…_

_Illness, glossy white orb, torn in two, human side loss, falling to the GeoStigma, the Flower Girl, comrade, control of Chaos cells, labs, darkness, JENOVA creatures, death of comrades…_

_Freedom._

So many pieces of his life flew past his eyes and yet all he could think of was that. Freedom. Freedom from this hell, from the one whom wanted to chain him into obedience and freedom from this world…the Life Stream. No, he wanted the galaxy…

'_Yes…Let us run from this place. Return to the galaxy. Find a new world.'_

Faintly, beneath the thick conscious, which had suddenly forced him down, Vincent laughed. Chaos' purpose had mixed with JENOVA's will. She was right, Chaos' cells had been overwrought and JENOVA's cells had adapted and converted them. Now there was a completely new creature and it had one last thing to convert…Vincent. It wanted to become one being…

But in the mean time, it would give its other half a rest. It would kill the being, which threatened its host.

Vincent stood; blood pooled and trickled from his body, excess from what he had lay in only moments before. His eyes glowed with a force never before seen and grinned with demonic glee.

Both of the AVALANCHE members were caught as spectators within their bodies as the monsters, created by Hojo and JENOVA, did what they did best.

With a wild lunge they began to play a game of death.

* * *

Aeris jerked back in surprise and looked to her companion across the meager warmth of the Materia between them with wide eyes. 

"Aeris?" Cloud questioned when his gaze met here startled one.

"This isn't…" Aeris whispered.

Cloud tipped his head and straightened, "What isn't?"

Aeris looked to him, her sparking green eyes now grave, "We're running out of time."

Cloud shook his head, "We have time, Aer'."

"I'm not talking about ShinRa's plans!" she shook her head and looked away, talking more to herself now than to Cloud, "We didn't see this coming…this isn't supposed to happen."

"Aeris!" Cloud said harshly in a low tone, gaining the Flower Girl's attention, "What are you talking about?"

Aeris just looked at him with spooked emerald eyes, "Vincent is losing control…"

"Chaos returned to the Life Stream, Aeris, what could he possibly be losing control to?" Red XIII asked gently, making his presence known as he lifted his head from his forepaws.

"The JENOVA cells in his body are adapting and melding to the Chaos cells."

"…Which means?" Cloud whispered.

"Vincent is next. The Creature wants to meld with Vincent. With JENOVA's, Chaos', and Vincent's purpose changed into one ambition…who knows what will happen. But if Vincent gives in…there is no guarantee that he'll have the same mission he does now."

Cloud's blue eyes widened a notch, "oh."

* * *

Sephiroth leaned lazily against the far entrance to the hall of the labs and grinned, his cunning emerald eyes sparked in the darkness. 

_Finally, Father is beginning to awaken. _

He smiled and watched as the man who was soon to be his Father battled the remnant of an old comrade. This was going to be fun. He'd let his Father have his fun and when he was exhausted and at his closest to his last transformation, he would take him to Her, to Mother.

Until then, he would watch the young woman, who would have been an Empress once upon a time, die.

* * *

The group was still looking at the aftermath of everything that had just happened when Vince suddenly fell to his knees with large, dazed eyes. 

"Vince? Vince! C'mon, man, don't do this!" Cid said and he shook the younger man's slender but strong shoulders roughly.

"Cid, stop!" Zack snapped as he kneeled beside the Turk, trying to steady the unbalanced man.

Vince, as compared to Vincent, only saw shorter flashes of their life, but it was enough to daze him. He saw the chaos of the Holy epidemic, and he saw the second fall of Sephiroth. He saw the horrors of Deep Ground and saw the fall of Omega and it's Squire.

Then, suddenly, everything went and rewound.

_A gunshot and the heat of a slug burring deep within him…_

_A large glass tube, filled with MAKO…_

_Lucrecia…she was dying…_

_The birth of Sephiroth…_

_Knives, surgery, charts, experiments…_

_Voices…_

_Fear._

_"You know, you don't have to look," a familiar voice. His own and yet not quite._

_Vince spun around to see Vincent behind him, clad in his large tattered red cloak, his claw glittering at his side and his eyes peeking out at him from over the high collar of his mantle. _

_"What…how?"_

_"I've…I suppose you could say…been shut out of my own body," Vincent shrugged in an entirely un-Vincent like way, "But you don't have to look. This is my life, not yours."_

_"Its mine too," Vince said softly and was about turn back to watch when an odd sound was issued from Vincent's throat._

_He was laughing…softly at first and slowly it gained until Vince found that his elder self had a laugh quite similar to a bark._

_"What?" _

_While the mantle covered Vincent's face it did little to cover his eyes that shown with a smile crossed between pity and amusement, "You and I are not the same, Kid. I've made my decisions. This is my life. Go get your own."_

_Vince quirked his eyebrows up a notch in a mix of confusion and surprise. _

_But Vincent was right. This was not his life…He smiled back and shrugged in an entirely Vince like manner, "Fine."_

_Vincent turned on heel and disappeared, his tatter cloak fluttering behind him._

"Vince, Vince! C'mon, buddy, we don't have time for this!"

Vince opened his eyes only to see his friends' attention captured by another. They were fighting. Cid flew past him with a whiff of air and a scream, all the back into the far wall behind him. He looked up and frowned.

Kadaj had his double bladed Katana dipped right under his chin while his dark JENOVA tainted creatures kept Cid and Zack occupied.

"My, my, my, what have we here? A remnant of Father, perhaps?" the silver haired youth's grin unsettled Vince.

"Where's Brother?"

* * *

_**Sorry that it has taken so long for me to update but I've been writing and rewriting this chapter over and over again and just couldn't get it right, if you know what I mean! It is NOT spell checked, like always, and maybe it will be one day when I REVAMP the story but that day is not today. Until then, enjoy!**_

_**Reviews are loved and Reviewers will glomped with love! -**_

_-Spazzy (Blindfolded Angel)_


	21. Ready to Let Go

Music: How Far We've Come – Matchbox Twenty 

**Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy – Big & Rich**

Chapter 21: Ready to Let Go

"Remnant?" Vince said and slowly let his eyes slide from their downcast glance to look at the man before him. Vince smiled wickedly, "Hardly. I'm the real deal, Kid."

Kadaj straightened, his form haloed by the light above as he towered over Vince. He tipped his chin high and grinned, "The real deal? All I see is the shadow of a man, made by the mysteries of Materia. Nothing more than a Remnant of what Father once was."

Vince's eyes shot wide.

"Oh yes, I see the Planet's hand in you. Nothing more than Materia, stealing the form and memories of another man… How pitiful," Kadaj jeered.

Vince's eyes blazed but he bit his tongue.

"As to quote my Brother," Kadaj smiled childishly, "Want to play?"

Vince stood despite the fact that Kadaj's blade followed and lingered just under his chin all the way up. Vince was taller than Kadaj and while they were both lithe, it was easier to tell Vince was also more built.

"The Remnant of a SOLDIER and the Remnant of a Turk, both top of their class. This will, I have to admit, be interesting," Vince smiled as he dusted himself off, his hand lingered just above the grip of his gun as he did so.

In a flash, it started. Kadaj lunged forward as Vince weaved gracefully to the left and hefted his mighty gun. In the same instant it took to aim, he fired.

Kadaj masterfully twisted his sword this way and that, letting the metal slugs ping off his double-bladed Katana harmlessly.

Vince moved with the grace of a cat, his movements blurred in their speed and yet gave the impression that he was moving lazily. Each move was precise and executed with distinct purpose. Vince backpedaled and twisted, all the while pressing his hairpin triggers faster than Kadaj could see.

A bullet grazed his cheek and the game paused. The silver haired youth raised one black-gloved hand to brush at the warm oozing liquid on his cheek. He glanced at the hot stain on his fingertips before looking to Vince.

Vince did not move his stance. He remained at a sidewise position and looked down the barrel of his Quicksilver without remorse. His brows were drawn tight, concentration evident and the steely look in his eyes reminded Kadaj that Turks were bred for one thing and one thing only.

Perfection.

The Turk part of him, the part trained to kill, would not stop until one of them was dead. His eyes, ten times darker than before and yet glowed brighter than the sun, reflected just one thing back to Kadaj. Death. His target was in sight and the Turk was ready to do his job with flawless precision.

After all, it's not just his job. It's who he is, what he's bred to be.

Kadaj shrugged before leaping forwards. They were at odds. Vince could shoot point blank, up close and personal or at a distance. Kadaj _needed_ close combat. His sword, sadly, could not stretch over any distance, though that would be convenient. So Vince backpedaled smoothly, grinning and pushing out slugs left and right as Kadaj dipped, dived, ducked, and dodged.

Click.

Vince frowned. Ammunition, it appeared, had suddenly run off on him. With a nimble twist, he evaded the silver arch of Kadaj's sword and reached into one of the pockets of his black cargo pants. When his fingers brushed the familiar touch of his gun's clips, he grinned.

Kadaj leapt up, spun, and his sword followed obediently behind him. With a slight change as he flung through the air, he shifted his angle to change the path of his sword. The Katana raced downwards at Vince with a menacing double silver gleam.

Vince tossed his clip high into the air. His face became contorted in concentration as he effortlessly bent at the knees and leaned back. As the sword zipped by inches from his face, he unloaded the empty clip from his gun. With a deft curl, he spun to face the ground and lifted his empty gun to the ceiling behind him. With a satisfying click, the clip ran smoothly into the gun without hindrance. Using his momentum from the previous moves, he fell to the ground and rolled away from the deadly, spinning Remnant.

Kadaj landed gracefully a ways away from Vince as he pushed off from the floor and leapt to his feet. With a flick of the wrist, he locked the clip into his gun and took aim once more.

The Remnant nodded his praise, his brows quirked in respect, before his mouth set into a firm, pursed line. He lunged forward, a blur of black leather and deadly silver steel. Vincent lunged forward, caught the youth off guard, and brought the heavy reinforced butt of his gun down hard upon Kadaj's temple.

Kadaj fell to the ground and the world spun before his eyes. With the subtle upwards bounce of his body, Vince kicked the Remnant hard in the ribs during the air time, causing him to tumble roughly down the marble floor in a series of squelching noises created by the friction between his leather garb and the polished floor.

Vince aimed at the prone, supine form on the floor, "Game over."

Kadaj smiled, his reflection pressed to the marble floor grinned back at him, and he looked to Vince, "Best two out of three."

Kadaj jumped to his feet and looked at the barrel pointing menacingly at him. He smiled and shrugged before raising one hand, a glowing orb of activated Materia set into the armor of his forearm, "I suggest you dodge."

The Remnant took pleasure in Vince's shocked gaze as the mastered orb of Fire Materia exploded into life before them. The bright light of the blazing flames blinded the silver haired youth for a moment and the heat caressed his face in the way that he wished Mother would. But if this made Mother happy…

…Then he was happy.

Kadaj took pride in the fact that he was more like his Father than his Father thought.

_"As long as she is happy," Vincent sighed, thinking of Lucrecia, "Then it doesn't really matter…I'm happy too. I'm happy for her…"_

Sephiroth's Remnant looked at the wreckage of the blast, searched for Vince's scorched body, but found nothing but a large, ugly black stain. Kadaj was mildly pleased with himself until a flicker of dark red and black caught his attention from above.

Vince had leapt back and ran up the wall at the last second, narrowly evaded the blast and lingered for a small time, weightless, high above before pressing close. He allowed his muscles to wind up like springs before he kicked off the wall. With his back to the ground, he arched in a long, muscle-tensed flip. He cleared the air over Kadaj's head and landed soundlessly behind him.

Crouched from his landing, he spun his feet to twist his body to face the silver haired Remnant. Raising his gun quicker than Kadaj could turn, he aimed.

Kadaj dully noted the bright blue light emitting from one of the slots on the large gun. Materia. Ice Materia.

"You know, for all the stuff I've heard about you being Sephiroth's Remnant, I must admit that I'm fairly disappointed," Vince smirked.

Kadaj didn't move.

"I mean, wasn't he the one who burned a whole village through his rage? You obviously didn't inherit his skill with Fire Materia."

Kadaj howled in rage and hefted his sword up to attack, but Vince had already let go of his accumulated magic. Ice showered the room mercilessly. It sprouted in dangerous, ragged spikes from the floor, ceiling, and walls. The surface of the chamber was layered with inches of thick ice but that wasn't what concerned Kadaj.

No, what had caught Kadaj's attention was the tree trunk sized spike jutting through his right thigh; blood crept down the remainder of the frozen point. He scrabbled with both hands against the icy impalement and screamed.

With racing breath, Kadaj hardly noticed the gentle caress of Vince's gun as the barrel tapped his temple, "You won't avoid this, I guarantee it."

Kadaj sneered, "You honestly think it's that easy?"

Vince tilted his head, "Do you think your brains will magically reconstruct themselves after this bullet tears them to shreds?"

"Vince, watch out!" Zack yelled, his voice strained.

"Kid!" Cid howled.

Vince let reality sink back into him and as it did, his uptight Turk training released his mind a little. Enough to make it a second too late when he noticed the shadow that swallowed him whole, and blocked out the light.

Vince let out a hoarse cry of pain as two sets of jagged claws pierced his shoulder blades from behind and sank straight through. When he looked down he could see the shiny, wet, red points of those claws as they flexed within him.

His blood stained those twitching claws.

"Oh," Vince groaned softly as blood oozed out from the corners of his mouth.

"Kid, no!" Cid growled and with a great thrust, he dislodged the creature he had pressed back with his spear. He jogged over to him as quickly as his sliced open leg would allow, and tried to ignore the pain as he watched Quicksilver fall from Vince's benumbed fingers.

The gun collided with the floor harshly and the jarring contact set off the delicate hairpin trigger. The gunshot sliced through the noise of battle like a warm knife through butter. The creatures all disappeared in puffs of black smoke, drawing Zack and Cid's attention to the two young men engaged in battle.

Kadaj looked at Vince's startled, dull eyes with equally startled ones. Vince's gaze slowly fell down to the puckered lump of leather and blood that was embedded just over Kadaj's heart. Kadaj brought up his already blood slicked hand to numbly brush over the bullet wound. He could feel his Mother's cells desperately trying to mend the hole in his heart, but with each shuddering beat, the tear only opened again and again and again.

With the creature behind him gone, Vince was free to fall to his knees without anything to hold him back. Zack rushed up beside his friend and fumbled through his items to find a Cure Materia, a potion, anything to help.

Vince merely continued to watch the Remnant in front of him. With his magic slowly fading, the ice around them melted away and once the only thing that held the youth up was gone, he slunk to his knees as well.

"I was hoping…he would like me…more than She did…" Kadaj whispered.

Vince only watched sadly as Kadaj reached one blood soaked and shaky hand towards him. He could tell that Kadaj didn't see him so much as his elder self. He knew Kadaj saw Vince as a man with a blood red cloak, long messy hair, and fiery red Mako eyes, and not as the young Turk from a different time period.

Vince did not draw back when those icy cold, red smeared fingertips found his cheek. He allowed Kadaj to touch his cheek, allowed him to prove to himself that Vince was truly there, that he was a tangible force before him and not just another voice inside his head.

"…Father," Kadaj whispered as the particles of his Life Stream fluttered surreally at his shoulders and the frame of his body.

Vince maintained eye contact with the young Remnant and nodded. His voice was soft and hoarse, exactly like his elder self, "Yeah, Kid…I'm here."

Kadaj smiled and his face seemed to shed years in that smile. It was bare, innocent, and raw. His hand began to break apart into small fluttery specks of colored Life Stream, but it did not faze him. The process steadily advanced up his arms, up his knees, but he continued to smile.

"Say hello…to Big Brother…for me…" Kadaj let out in a whisper and as the process began to finish, he said one word in a contented sigh, "Father."

Vince was dimly aware of the warmth that spread through his body and healed his wounds as Zack administered a mastered Cure spell to him.

"Two out of three," Vince whispered as his lids slid shut, "I win."

Vince collapsed to the ground as Zack continued to administer Cure Materia to his steadily healing body. He would live…

…For now, he would live.

* * *

Sephiroth had noticed it, just as he did now. Kadaj had lost to the younger Vincent and the Turk had also suffered nearly fatal damage. He could tell when the Turk almost returned to the Life Stream because the monstrous form that was once Vincent Valentine flickered in and out of reality before them. Vincent had stopped, for a moment, to observe the phenomenon. He had lifted his hand to gaze at the fading appendage as it changed from solid, to ghostly, to nothing at all and back. But once the fading had stopped and his body was solid once more, the shell of Vincent Valentine rushed back into battle.

Sephiroth smiled as he watched his Father steadily evolve. From the new color of his irises to the bunching muscles beneath his skin, Sephiroth could see the change within him. JENOVA and Chaos had joined together to create a completely new force with which to take Vincent's body with.

The familiar armor of Chaos was hard to forget but it was the subtle differences that hinted Sephiroth in to the change, other than the distinctive change in energy. It was things like the bunches of energy huddled around Vincent's shoulder blades, preparing his fragile body for the next painful step.

It was the thin, hairline cracks that were steadily spreading through Vincent's sparking gold claw. It was the slight change to his center of balance, now held lower than it once was, and how his body had adapted a new and stronger build.

It was the fangs beneath his lips and the points of his ears. The delicate placing of that red bandana, looping down and around one eye and it was the change in his hair. But more than that, it was the silver locks of hair, here and there, which had settled down to frame his face.

It was the alien intelligence of a natural predator gleaming in his eyes and it was the changes to his gun. His gun, Cerberus, had changed just as much as its owner had. The three wolfs heads were opening in a ceaseless howl, allowing places for the bullets to exit. Fearsome fangs caressed those barrels without hindering the exit point. The gun was black now, sleeker and larger. A unique, electric silver design swirled around the barrels and mimicked the beautiful flow of the Life Stream itself.

Vincent Valentine was losing in the fight to remain a pathetic mortal soul and instead, was becoming something glorious. Sephiroth would have his Father soon enough and when he brought Vincent to Mother; she would seal the deal and would complete Vincent's transformation.

_Skin that seemed to be made of light itself, shone from the inside out. Wings, the perfect mixture of demon and angel, seemed to be made of shadow rather than flesh and blood. Eyes, a molten mixture of amber, red and pink, swirled in the darkness before him. His hair, long sleek black locks that gave off the constant impression of just the right amount of sleek wetness, caressed his back coldly, gently, and hung beautifully in his eyes. His body, built for destruction and murder, was perfect and bore no scars, no blemishes. His hands, both human in appearance, were perfect twins of each other. Both made of flesh, bone, and raw power. His clothing nothing more than the remnant of his once red, tattered cloak, now black, tied perfectly around his hips, it swooped down to cover all but just one lithe, muscled leg. He looked like a Greek God and stood tall and proud…_

_He stretched his wings out gloriously, the span of those shadowy limbs were taller than Sephiroth himself, and cast him into darkness._

"_My son," a whisper and yet not… Soothing, dark, melodious, but still baring the ghost of a growl from its former tone._

_"Father."_

Sephiroth smiled. It truly was too bad that the boy, Kadaj, would not get to see his Father when the transformation is completed. After all, he did give his life just to see him. Too bad he ran into the wrong one.

"A pity," Sephiroth whispered and after a pause, he grinned within the darkness.

* * *

Vincent leapt to the side in a blur of movement, easily evading the thick trunk of a tail that was flung his way. He lunged forward and pressed from one wall to the next in invisible movements. Two leaps later, he was hovering just over the creature's head, his gun aimed and a unholy grin plastered onto his face.

"Dodge this."

The creature's grin fell ever so slightly as it watched the glow grow in front of each of the gun's barrels. Its eyes were wide.

"_Vincent."_

Suddenly, the world exploded into an array of colors and lights. The force of the gun itself seemed to have ripped through the fabrics of reality itself and open the Life Stream within the hallway of the labs. The world was a mixed of blood splash white tile, broken doors, and the ocean of the world between life and death. Water flooded the hall in a roar of motion, swirling around them in a blur of rage and dragging them down within its currents. The creature's face was gone from the upper lip and onwards. Its lower jaw lolled disgustingly as blood swirled within the beauty of the in-between world. Both creatures were unconscious but the beings locked deep within them were being tugged gently from their prisons.

_There was nothing but the vast quietness of the world between. The unconscious bodies they left behind lay silent in the halls of Hojo's labs. _

_Yuffie looked more beautiful here than Vincent had ever seen her before. Her skin seemed to glow here, her form caught between becoming apart of the Life Stream and returning to the world they left behind. She smiled and it reminded him of the smiles Lucrecia Crescent once gave him. Special, made just for him._

_"Vincent," she said her voice proved it to him in a second. She was going to die. Her voice was warm, soothing, just like Aeris' and Lucrecia's whenever they came to him in dreams. Yuffie continued, her tone soft, "There is something I want to tell you."_

_"Yuffie…I-"_

_Yuffie smiled and wrinkled her nose, letting one slender finger point at him in accusation, "Don't you dare say it, Valentine. If you dare tell me you're sorry, I swear, I'm going to knock in the head!"_

_Vincent only watched her in silence, his shoulders suddenly heavy._

_They stood that way for a while, simply standing in the vastness of the ocean, unaffected by the water as it drifted into their lungs like air instead of liquid._

_"You know, I've won our argument."_

_Vincent leaned back a bit and arched one slender brow, the slight curve of his lips hidden beneath the cowl of his cloak, "Hmm?"_

_"You're not a monster. Now I can say that with personal experience to back me up!"_

_"Yuffie," Vincent said softly, but it went ignored._

_"I know what its like to be a monster, mister, and you're no monster! You're selfless, brave, kind in your own way and you're definitely not a monster!"_

_Vincent sighed softly but said nothing. He knew the conversation wouldn't go anywhere and Yuffie did have experience now…that was his fault, too._

_"Yuffie…"_

_"You know…Vince promised that he wouldn't leave me until I was ready to let go."_

_"Hmm."_

_Yuffie fingered one stray lock of her hair until it was back behind her ear, "I think I'm…almost ready."_

_Vincent looked at her and waited patiently._

_"Are you afraid?"_

_The question startled Vincent and for a moment, he forgot about the weight on his shoulders and heart._

_"…"_

_Yuffie blushed and looked up at the endlessness of the ocean, "You don't have to answer if you don't want-"_

_"-Yes."_

_Her gaze did not stray, she merely hummed that she had heard him and hoped he would continue._

_"I am afraid…that what I'm doing is…I-"_

_"-We all knew what we were getting into when we agreed to help you, Vincent," she cut him off boldly, "Death is apart of the whole Hero business. We knew that, most likely, we were going to die. Luck runs out eventually, after all. But…"_

_Yuffie paused to look at him._

_"I think I understand what you're trying to do now, Vincent…"_

_Vincent was about to open his mouth when she cut him off once more, "Keep going."_

_Vincent's eyes went just a tad bit wider, "What?"_

_"Don't give up. Keep going, kill JENOVA, send Vince back and," she smiled, "Fix it so this never happens, okay?"_

_"But-"_

_She wagged her finger at him and winked, "No butts, Vinny."_

_He closed his mouth._

_"But one thing does scare me…about what you're going to do. If everything does go as you plan, and you do send Vince back…none of us are going to remember any of this. The cost of a peaceful life will be to forget each other and to lose…all the memories that have made us close," Yuffie whispered and looked down, her black hair shadowing her expression, "I don't want to forget you guys…"_

_The weight settled back down upon Vincent's shoulders, threatening to drown him here in this ocean._

_"I don't want to forget about the long summer nights we spent while we tracked down Sephiroth, and I don't want to forget about the kids. I don't want to lose my memories of AVANLANCHE…of the Cloud, Tifa, Reeve, Caith Sith, Barret, or Nanaki…I don't want to forget about Aeris, or all the battles we went through side by side. The Turks, even if some of them are annoying," she pulled a face, "Or Vince…"_

_"…Yuffie."_

_"But most of all, I don't want to forget about you."_

_Vincent took a step closer to brush the hair out of her face only to let his eyes settle upon her tear stained face._

_"I'm sorry…Yuffie."_

_She punched him lightly in the chest and let out a whisper, "I said no apologies, remember?"_

_"Yuffie-"_

_"Vincent, I-" Yuffie began but Vincent shook his head and placed one finger on her lips._

_"Wait," he said, softly, "Its best this way, in our case."_

_Yuffie's steely gaze went wide, "What?" _

_"Its best that you forget about me. It would be a shame for you to waste your love on me."_

_Yuffie opened her mouth to object before Vincent shook his head again._

_"You deserve someone who can return that love in full, Yuffie. Someone who can be by your side and share the happiness you create. To help you rule Wutai. I can't do those things, Yuffie…"_

_Yuffie did not move as he gently grabbed her chin between two long calloused fingers and tilted her head back to look at him._

_"You've become a beautiful woman, Yuffie Kisaragi," he said softly and gently wiped away her tears with his hand, "It's been an honor to fight by your side, Empress."_

_"It's been an honor to have died by yours," she smiled, "Thank you, Vincent…"_

_A portal a little ways behind Yuffie opened and the little fluttering fireflies of the Life Stream flickered beautifully around her, lighting her skin up warmly._

_"It's time," he said softly, "Are you afraid?"_

_She shook her head, "No… I'm ready to let go."_

_Vincent was about to apologize but decided that it would probably upset her more than not saying it would so he pursed his lips and looked down, caught between talking and not, when she caught him by surprise._

_Her lips were warm, most likely due to the Life Stream's loving touch upon her skin, and she practically glowed with the happiness of a star as she did so. It was gentle and chaste. Nothing more than a soft press of her lips upon his forehead. Not his lips, for that was a lover's place, but upon his forehead. Forgiveness, love, and a friend's touch…_

_She took pride in the soft splash of surprise on his face and she whispered, a breaths width away from his face, "Thank you for everything, Vincent Valentine. Thank you for coming, for saving me, and for waiting for me to be ready to let go."_

_She turned then, and prepared to let the Life Stream take her. The touches of color on her hands, her legs, the frame of her body, were already being drawn into the portal, but a voice stopped her for just a moment._

_"Yuffie."_

_Yuffie turned to see that Vincent had unbuckled the cowl of his cloak so that it showed his face without falling off. But it wasn't his face that surprised her, she already knew that he was handsome, but it was the thing that was on that face that made her heart quiver in surprise._

_Vincent smiled. _

_He smiled a true smile and nodded his head to her, "Thank you for loving me."_

_Yuffie smiled as the Life Stream took her._

_"Go get'em, Vinny."_

* * *

"Yuffie has passed on," Aeris whispered softly.

Vince scrunched his face up in a pathetic way and flopped over. He did_ not_ want to wake up yet. He didn't know where he was, what he was doing, and didn't care. The soft blanket and the warmth it gave him called to him and he fully intended to take its invitation back to sleep when his mind began to register that comment.

_Yuffie has passed on…_

"I see…" Cloud said softly, his tone heavy.

"Shit," Cid whispered.

Zack looked to Aeris, "What about Vincent?"

"He's fine, or as fine as he can be considering. He is about to return to his body and when he does he'll be able to regain control…for now."

Vince shot up then, eyes wide, "Whoa, whoa, wait! Back up. What happened to Yuffie? And what's controlling Vincent?"

Aeris smiled as Vince gave a soft wince and rubbed at his sore shoulders.

"I did my best, Vince, but I could only heal so much. Its pretty much mended, but you're going to be a little sore," Zack said with a warm, but hollow tone.

Vince nodded, "Thanks."

"What about Sephiroth, Aeris?" Cloud interrupted, "Can you sense him anywhere?"

Aeris shook her head with a slight frown, "No. I haven't felt him at all since I've gotten here. I couldn't say."

"Hmm."

"What am I missing?" Vince said softly, his eyes glued to the warm orb in the middle of their circle.

"Yuffie has passed on…I'd rather not go into detail. Vincent went with her to the world between life and death to, I suppose you could say, ease her into what comes next. He is returning now."

"Oh. What about Kadaj?" Vince said in a hushed voice.

"Passed on as well," Cloud said, his voice monotonous.

"So what's next?"

"We need to find the Core of the Portals and take out anything that gets in our way," Zack replied.

Cid thumbed his nose, "Are there any more hooligans that we need to look out for, Aeris?"

Aeris sighed, "Unfortunately…yes. Rosso the Crimson, Azul the Cerulean, and, of course, Sephiroth."

"Sephiroth…" Cloud whispered.

Aeris looked to him with shiny green eyes and sighed, "I'm sorry, Cloud."

Cloud shook his head, "I knew he would be here. Its only a matter of time…"

Vince brought his eyes back to the bright orb of Materia between them, ignored the burning in his eyes, and asked, "When do we leave?"

"Soon."

* * *

_Vincent watched the portal before him close and he fumbled with the clasps of his cloak as he waited. Suddenly he felt the water's currents pick up and drag at his being. With a startled cry, he was plucked and tugged throughout the merciless currents as he spiraled downwards into dark oblivion._

_He watched the white bubbles of his screams float upwards as he was dragged down, down, down, into darkness._

Vincent let out a shuddering gasp and slowly breathed in and out. His body was hurting…but it wasn't just hurting but it was _hurting._ Every fiber of his body with screaming with agony as he slowly opened his familiar, normal fiery red eyes.

He was lying in the gore-coated hallway. The creature that had once been Yuffie Kisaragi lay in a bloody mess, coiled around him limply. He did not move, not immediately. He just let everything sink in.

_JENOVA and Chaos had evolved within him into one being…_

_…And Yuffie Kisaragi was dead._

He tipped his head back to take in more of his surroundings and froze.

"Hello, Vincent," Sephiroth grinned down at him from his place above. He sat on the tallest mound of Yuffie's carcass, the only part of her somewhat clean, and his silver hair out of threat from bloodstains. He had his forearms resting gently on his knees, and his form was haloed by the little light that remained in the room, "I was afraid you weren't going to wake up."

Vincent's head shot up, despite the aching protests of his body, and he sat up, his upper torso turned to see him, "Sephiroth."

Sephiroth nodded, "Glad to hear you remember me."

Vincent scowled, "What do you want?"

Sephiroth stood then, brushed himself off and said, "Mother requests an audience with you but first," he smiled down at Vincent, "I'd like to see how far through the transformation you are in. Nothing too big, of course, just a small fight…until you're unconscious and easy to handle."

Vincent scowled and moved his hand to reach for his gun only to find it M.I.A. and a ways down the hall. It must have been blown from his grasp during the explosion from the gun.

Sephiroth could tell Vincent was calculating his chances of reaching the gun before him, seeing as it was just between them, and laughed, "Ready?"

Vincent lunged for his gun and Sephiroth leapt into action.

* * *

"So, where is he, Rosso?" the large man growled as he crushed the head of the last creature beneath his large, booted foot. Blood, bone, and brains scattered beneath the pressure and coated the floor in a unpleasant splash of gore.

His companion, a young woman with fiery red hair and a outfight much closer to a second skin than clothing, pressed off the wall she was leaning against and shrugged, her accent thick as she said, "How should I know, Azul? But he is here, somewhere. I can feel him."

"Good," Azul snarled, "This pathetic creatures are beginning to bore me. I want a real challenge."

"As do I, Azul. As do I. Patience, my friend, Vincent's death will be ours shortly and fortunately," she grinned, "There is one for both of us."

Azul laughed, "I want the real one, Rosso. His death will be mine."

Rosso shrugged, "Fine. I'll take the younger of the two then. But you better hurry if you plan to kill the eldest. The silver haired man is battling him as we speak."

Azul let out a huff of impatience and began to walk to the door, "His death _will_ be mine, Rosso."

Rosso only smiled and examined her nails.

* * *

**Yay, another chapter done! Sorry, this one might not be as good as the others but it was all necessary… I hope you liked it. Hopefully these frequent updates will continue but, well, you never know. **

**I got someone to proof read it and I reread the beginning, so hopefully the spelling and grammar will be a bit better this time. -**

**-Spazzy**

**oh yeah, as always, Reviews are loved and Reviewers are glomped with luv!**

**MUCH LOVE TO ARFIDY! Thanks, luv!**


	22. Becomes a God

**MUSIC: Eden (by Sarah Brightman) **

**Chapter 22: Becomes a God**

Vincent's heart took a joyous leap as his fingertips brushed with the cool metal of his prized gun, Cerberus, but the feeling was short lived. For no sooner had his fingers found the handle to his gun had Sephiroth's sword, Masamune, drawn its tip to the small gap at the trigger to tug it just out of the gunman's reach.

Vincent groaned, straightened, and let his pride take the back seat as he allowed one arm to wrap around his upper torso in hopes of diminishing the pain. He looked up to see Sephiroth jerk his wrist, the motion sending the gun skittering down the hall and back into the wreckage of Yuffie's old cell.

_Yuffie…_

Vincent forbade himself from thinking of the White Rose of Wutai. He couldn't afford a distraction of any sort. Not now when the purpose to their death lay at stake. There would be time for mourning later, and hopefully, some day soon there would be no need for it at all.

Vincent bit back a grimace and withdrew the little comfort that his arm had to give to make his stature as strong and menacing as possible. His eyes glowed in the dim light of the hallway as he glared at the man who was given life by the woman he loved, and the man who had damned him to what he was now.

"Sephiroth," Vincent growled.

The silver haired man smiled and brought his sword out to point at the man in front of him, his eyes aglow with chaos and mischief. He tilted his head to the side, his silver hair followed in a cascade of motion, and he chuckled, "Do you think you can stop this, Vincent Valentine?"

Vincent let out a grunt of effort as he leapt into action. With a sweeping motion to bring his blade to his side, JENOVA's puppet followed him into the air. With no weapon, what did Vincent expect to do, Sephiroth wondered.

But what happened mildly surprised him. For, suddenly, Vincent's cloak became a living entity all its own. With a flutter, the tattered piece of red fabric expanded and swirled to encompass the man until he was nothing more than a phantom.

The red, ghostly bundle twitched and jumped from here to there in movements that Sephiroth couldn't follow, until the screech of a gun sliding up and off the ground alerted him to the raven haired man's intentions. Then the red phantom cloak was emerging from the darkness of the bloody containment cell. It remained in the doorway as though caught by the whims of water, until it sprang into life once more.

In a flurry of red winds and silver sparks, Vincent circled Sephiroth in an array of jumps and shots. However, the silver haired one wasn't one to be underestimated. With quick, purposeful flicks of his wrist, the sword reflected each and every bullet that came at him.

The exchange continued for sometime until the resigned click of an empty clip rang out in the hallway. With a smirk growing on his pale lips, Sephiroth began to take purposeful steps toward the red phantom until finally he was upon the possessed red cloak. Vincent, preoccupied with reloading, didn't notice as Sephiroth raised one hand high. With a quick downwards sweep of his hand, he cracked it against where he presumed the man's jaw would be.

His aim struck true and Vincent was slammed out of his illusion with a strike so powerful that it left the skin of his jaw flushed with the promise of a bruise and sent his mind spinning. With a skin crawling crack, he slammed against one of the remaining walls and slid down, slowly, to the ground.

Vincent's recovery wasn't nearly quick enough. As he began to stagger to his feet, he was thrown into the middle of the hall, and slid a few feet until he was clear of the wreckage of his previous battle, and the corpse that it left behind.

He slowly stood on benumbed legs, his eyes darted here and there in search of his opponent. So when pain suddenly blossomed into a bloody rose upon his left thigh, he could do nothing but let out a startled, pain filled howl. With wide eyes, he looked down to see the long, slender curve of Masamune's blade buried hilt deep into his thigh from behind him. He wanted to fall, he wanted to jump away from the blade, he wanted to grip his leg to stem the bleeding, but with the blade pressed from the back of his thigh, through his flesh, and pinning him in a upright position with its tip buried in the ground, he could risk none of this without taking further damage. Further damage would lead to breaking his limit and if he did that…

…He didn't want to lose control again because if he did, he had a feeling that he would never regain the control he lost. He would never wake up again.

Through clenched teeth, he weakly looked over his shoulder to glare at the grinning face behind him.

"I had hoped you would put up a better fight, but then again I understand. You're exhausted," Sephiroth said softly but his gaze remained one of mockery, "Shall I just take you to Mother now since you no longer wish to fight?"

"What made you assume that?" Vincent growled and gritted his teeth in preparation for what was to come, "There is still some fight in me."

Sephiroth simply continued to grin as the man before him shifted. Then there was the click of a reloaded gun and a barrel pointed at his forehead, upside down from over Vincent's shoulder.

Sephiroth allowed his smirk to falter as the finger upon that trigger slowly began to pull downwards in a gentle suggestion to take his sword out and back the hell up.

And so Sephiroth heeded the suggestion. With a quick yet clean tug, he sprung back and his sword followed. When the wound was clean and free of the silver haired man's weapon, Vincent turned to take better aim.

He was aware of the blood oozing down his leg, of the pucker of leather that revealed the flesh torn wound beneath, and of the threat the man before him held to everything he had been fighting for. The threat to whether or not all those who died would die in vain or not.

Vincent shook his head, mentally scolding himself for his weakness. He couldn't let Sephiroth win and take him to JENOVA. The thought of her name made those pink eyes blossom in his mind's eye, watching him from the darkness. That darkness would consume him…

And then Sephiroth was moving again. A sword was pressed to his neck from behind and there he was, behind him, one hand holding his gun hand in a bone-shattering grip to keep it from aiming, the other holding his sword in place. He could feel the Angel's breath on his ear as he whispered, "You know, Vincent…one of your comrades in your group isn't what you think they are. They'll betray you in the end, so why not return the favor before they can hurt you?"

Vincent growled, his eyes flashed, and he could feel the raging strength of the creature beneath his skin trying to rip free. He held onto to his control, to his rational thinking, and tried to will the creature back. If it took over, he would never wake up again. But what he heard next, not from the murderer behind him but from within himself, startled him more than anything else could have.

He froze.

_"Kill the betrayer. Seek them out, rip them apart…kill them. Kill them all. Return to her, return to her, make the family whole," _a voice, exactly like his own, but smoother, laced with raw power and madness, "_Go with our son. Go to her. Go to her!"_

Vincent's heart, if possible, sunk more. Even if he released that terror within him, he wouldn't kill Sephiroth, couldn't kill him. He would kill…

Vincent trembled as what little strength he had left began to flee.

"You are tired, Vincent, so tired. Why continue fighting? She offers you so much…don't you think its time that the Planet stopped this cruelty to you? You don't have to fight anymore," Sephiroth reasoned and if Vincent had not been so tired, he probably would have laughed. Sephiroth was trying to make destroying the world sound reasonable. It made his lips twitch, but that was all that he could muster.

The sword at his neck was withdrawn, but his hand was not released, "Why should you have to fight anymore? What has the Planet ever done for you to thank you for saving it, hmm? It only brought you the GeoStigma to conquer, the return of Hojo, Deep Ground, and now _this._"

Vincent growled softly, "All of those events were not brought upon us by the Planet. It was because JENOVA could not simply stay in her place and _die._"

There was silence and for a freezing moment, Vincent thought that he might die right then for insulting the psychotic man's Mother. Good, at least then it would all be over…Vincent closed his eyes at the thought.

"Lucrecia…"

But then he heard the Angel's laughing, much akin to the laugh an adult might let out after hearing a far fetched tale from a child, and he heard the rummaging sound of leather clad hands looking for something in the expanse of his giant, black leather coat. When had the sword fallen away?

"We'll see."

A glow took place over his form like the hands of a warm, comforting lover, and Vincent realized too late that he had lost.

Sleep Materia.

Vincent watched the world around him swirl in a blur of colors, felt strong arms pick him up carefully, and succumbed to the weight pressing down upon his eyelids. Before all rational thought could leave him, he was aware of the painful throb pulsing in his heart, the thick clench of his throat, the sting in his eyes, and took a shaky breath.

_…No more. Please, Gaia, no more…_

* * *

Vince slowly opened his eyes despite his body's insistent protest and was greeted by a blurry face rather too close for comfort. 

"Vince! You're alive!" Zack grinned wide, "I told you I didn't kill'em, old man!"

Cid merely scoffed from somewhere beyond Vince's vision.

"Zack?" Vince forced through clenched teeth.

Zack instantly brought his attention back to the young man trapped beneath him, "Yeah?"

"Get. Off."

"Oh, right. Sorry about that!" he laughed sheepishly as he stood and offered Vince a hand with which to get up with.

Once on his two feet again, Vince instantly regretted not sleeping just a little longer. As pain pulsed throughout him he gently placed one cool hand against his feverish brow and groaned.

"Sorry, man, I tried to heal you. I got rid of all the major problems but the wooziness is something that only Aeris would be able to get rid and she's not here," Zack apologized as he swept one hand around to alert the young man of her absence.

"Where is she?"

Zack shrugged and scratched at the back of his neck, "She and Cloud had something they needed to talk about. They went off a little while back. We're supposed to stay here and rest a bit while they're off."

Vince scowled, "We have time for that?"

Cid fingered his nose, "That's what I said, kid, but no one listens to me."

Vince scowled and sat back down. He had a really bad feeling about all this…

* * *

He was just as she remembered and she figured he would never change. Or at least, not as long as he was here, in this place… All furrowed brows, brilliant MAKO blue eyes, and chocobo hair. 

Her bodyguard.

She stood across from him, supported by a sturdy bookcase, with his arms crossed, and his eyes downcast. They were in one of the remaining offices untouched by the monsters that inhabited the lowly estate.

"What's this about, Aeris?"

She looked at him for a moment longer and that was all it took for him to finally look at her. She waited, paused just ever so slightly, before she began.

"Its about Vincent…" she said softly, her green eyes never straying from his.

"…"

"Sephiroth has him. We probably won't make it to him in time but Sephiroth won't stay, wherever it is he takes him to, and he needs to be taken care of…Otherwise, he may hinder us later."

"Ah," Cloud said softly, "You want me to go on ahead?"

Aeris looked away, "You're the only one who can…I wish it weren't true. I wish you didn't have to suffer through this memory again and again and again…but there is no other way."

"What about Vincent?"

Aeris swallowed, "We have Vince…if it ends up that Vincent is—beyond our help—then we have no choice…"

Cloud blinked, straightened, and regarded her fully, "Aeris, this is all the Planet has to tell you? Kill him?!"

"If Vince goes back none of this will have happened! He won't remember!" Aeris said softly, barely a whisper.

Cloud merely shook his head, "I don't understand…if this is only a game for the Planet, why not fix it by itself?"

"The Planet cannot fix matters by itself. It can only supply the means to do so, nothing more," Aeris bit her lip. It was wrong, she knew it was wrong, but she was merely doing as the Planet whispered in her ear. Maybe she was no better than Sephiroth…after all, were they not both simply listening to a higher power than themselves?

"I'm sorry, Cloud."

But when she opened her eyes, he was gone.

"I'm so sorry…"

* * *

When Zack heard only one pair of footsteps, he was instantly at attention. With one hand at the hilt of his sword and his body in stance to attack, he watched the narrow hall behind them… 

…And rushed to Aeris when he found her to be alone. He gathered her into his arms, tucked her head beneath his chin, and whispered, "What happened?"

Aeris shook her head, kept her face buried in his shoulder for a moment longer, and sighed, "He went after Sephiroth."

She sunk further into depression when she felt the tension build in his body at the mention of the name.

"Alone? Why?"

"…I don't know."

Vince regarded her coolly from his spot against the wall, his red eyes unyielding and suspicious, until finally he stood, "Well then, lets continue on."

Zack and Aeris turned to regard him.

Vince merely stared at them with icy eyes and turned, "We don't have time for this. Lets go."

Cid looked at them, his eyes similar to that of Vince's, and followed with Nanaki at his heels.

* * *

He was almost there, only a few steps away when that stupid, huge slab of a creature tumbled down from the ceiling and demanded his future Father. Sephiroth nearly laughed. _Nearly._

The large man, all blue hair and bright yellow eyes, growled, "Hand him over, I have unfinished business with him."

Sephiroth merely raised one slender, silver brow in question, "And what business might that be?"

"His death shall be mine, boy. Set him down or I shall kill you both," the creature growled, its yellow eyes flashing angrily, as it watched him.

Sephiroth merely turned away with a graceful twist of his ankle. Gently, with as much care as he once treated the amputated head of his dear Mother, he settled Vincent down against a nearby wall. Once he was satisfied with his Father's safety, he glanced to the creature at hand from the corner of his long lashed eyes.

"Afraid not."

"Hmm?" the giant man merely snarled in question. Sephiroth assumed his full height despite the fact he was still a great deal shorter, and smirked, "Fine. Kill you both it is, then."

It was then that time seemed to fall inward, between them, and draw everything into a pause. Just as Azul was bunching his muscles and preparing to charge, Sephiroth was reaching for the hilt of Masamune forever faithful at his side. The small hallway seemed to quiver at the intensity of the larger man's steps as he bounded forward, and yet, the air seemed so still as the General remained unmoving.

_I, who have killed so many to achieve this, shall not fall to one such as you, Monster. Only a man…._

There was an arching flash of silver followed by the singing of Angels as the steel of Masamune bit deep into Azul's flesh. All motion, all time, all movement—came to a halt. The giant's blood seemed to float in midair, as though as light as snow, for just the barest instant.

_…Can kill a monster._

Azul screamed and brought one massive clawed hand to his side as the skin, tendons, and bone there slowly spilt apart beneath his fingertips. Blood splattered against the wall and floor in a great arc as the heavy creature fell to his knees. His yellow eyes flickered beneath bushy black lashes, and he tipped his chin up high.

"I…do not understand. How could I—how?" Azul stuttered, his breath barely coming any longer.

Sephiroth flicked his wrist, sending one last arc of blood through the air to cleanse the blade before flipping it back to his side, "A Monster such as you…would never understand."

Azul glanced to the larger man, "Are you not a Monster yourself?"

Sephiroth merely smiled as he turned on heel to regard his prize. His eyes never left the red bundled man slumped against the wall as he said, "Only two men could ever kill me…because only two men have proved themselves worthy of such a title…and soon, both of them shall die by my blade."

Azul coughed, a wet and gurgling noise, "Surely you…are more a Monster than I."

Sephiroth gathered the unconscious, raven haired man in his arms and chuckled just ever so softly, "I am not a Monster."

Azul watched as the black trench coat clad man walked past with his target in his arms. He wanted to snarl out some curse, wanted to leap up and rip them both into shreds, wanted to bathe in their death, but could not even muster the strength to keep himself from falling face first into the ground. As his vision tunneled into nothingness all he could hear were footsteps, and a whispered goodbye.

"I am a God."

* * *

Their footsteps sounded so hollow to their ears. The events that had taken place throughout the mission had left them broken, and hurt, and none of them could manage the energy to converse. All they wanted, all any of them wanted, was for all of this to end. The sooner they destroyed the final portal the sooner they all could rest. 

Vince winced, _not all of us…_

He felt a hand at his shoulder and turned to regard its owner.

Green eyes, comforting yet sad, "I know you don't know me that well…but have faith. This will all be over soon."

Vince kept her gaze a moment longer, but could not bare its honest intensity any longer than that. He let the connection fall and looked away.

_Is this…what I have to look forward to? All this sadness…_

_…I don't want it; any of it._

"How much longer now, Aeris?" Nanaki asked, his gentle voice just slightly accented.

Aeris turned her gaze slowly away from Vince to regard the feline and said, "Not much longer now, Nanaki. We should be there soon."

"There isn't much more to the floor, Aer'," Cid said hoarsely as he lit up once again, "Are you sure?"

"It's on the floor below us, but yes, I'm sure."

"The floor below us?" Vince whispered with wide dull red eyes.

_Only a creature stood before him…no, not a creature. It must have been human once. Drooling with morbid fascination, eyeing Vince as though he were food for the taking, it stood crouched on its haunches before him. It was lanky thing, this monster that was once a man. Its arms, long and bony and his shoulders were slumped, causing his painfully slender fingers and nails to scrap along the stony floor. His head was tilted; eyes uncomprehending beyond the basic survival instincts and his bright eyes showed him thusly, glinting madly in the darkness like the reflection a cat might have. Fangs, he could see fangs perched behind those slightly parted lips. His spine protruded from the skin of his nude back, nearly impaling him from the inside out. Torn fragments of clothing covered him from indecency but he probably didn't notice or care. A collar made of thick black leather rested around his slender neck, tangled into the brown matted hair that clung to his sweaty body. A small device was on the collar, probably serving for two purposes. Pain and surveillance._

"The labyrinth is down there, is it not?" Nanaki asked.

"It is."

Cid cursed softly under his breath, the words masked by smoke, and turned to look at Vince as they continued. He was about to say something, that much Vince was sure of, but the older man stopped dead. He reached for the spear at his back and yelled, "Kid, look out!"

But there was a blade to his throat and a vice grip pinning his arms to his sides and all Vince could manage to say was, "Oh…"

"I'll be taking him," said an oddly accented voice and then all was shadows and night.

"Vince!"

* * *

Midnight hair fanned out beneath a pale face as Vincent Valentine was gently laid down unto JENOVA's lap; she smiled, "Finally…" 

Her stolen, honey brown hair lay down, unbound, about her in a glistening cascade of silken beauty. Her eyes, the eyes of Sephiroth's true mother, looked down upon the pale man in her arms as he stirred.

A pale hand gently brushed the stray, sweaty locks from his brow. The gunman groaned softly, his brow twitched in pain, and something in his breast became to smoke. JENOVA laid her hand gently upon the remains of the Protomateria…and watched the remainder burn within him.

Vincent screamed.

"You've done well, my Son, but I have one last favor to ask of you. Are you up to the task?" JENOVA asked as the Materia burned within the helpless man.

"Of course, Mother," Sephiroth said, his head bowed in love, and devotion.

JENOVA smiled but did not lift her eyes to greet his, "The rebels, this AVALANCHE…some of them still remains?"

"Yes."

She brushed his dark raven locks once more once the Materia was completely burnt away, "Finish them."

Sephiroth nodded, a swirl of silver silk, and turned to leave once more.

"It will be done."

* * *

"Vincent Valentine…you may not know me yet but I am Rosso the Crimson." 

"I've heard of you," Vince growled and wiped at the small ribbon of blood that had sprouted from the force of Rosso's weapon. Wearily he watched as she circled him.

They had appeared here, wherever here was, and as soon as they had she had thrown him from her. She smiled, all red hair and seduction.

"Ah, then you must know…"

Vince merely raised a brow in question, "Know what?"

Rosso smiled a wolf's smile, "I shall be your murderer, boy. You may be the younger edition, but you are my enemy all the same. Weiss was ordered to destroy you and what Weiss wants, I want."

Vince frowned, "Weiss was a victim, a confused and controlled man but a good man all the same. He did not want this."

Rosso paused to regard him; her form simply feline grace personified, and shrugged, "Fine. It's what I want."

Vince assumed a defensive position, hand at the gun at his waist, and growled, "So be it."

Her speed was what he registered first. All he could see was a blur of movement as she sped into action. He never would have known that she had drawn her weapon if not for the sing of the blade of her weapon. He dodged just as the glowing projectiles hit the very place he once stood. Tucking his body close and rolling, he managed to evade the downward swipe of her weapon that followed.

"You will die here, Vincent Valentine!"

Vince pulled his gun free and fired round after round at her but her speed could not be matched. With a muttered curse he leapt out of the way once more as the ground he once stood on exploded into bits of gravel and nothingness.

Everything paused and they stood at their full heights to regard each other. Past the glimmer of her blade he could see her smile, a predator's smile. He kept his gun well aimed regardless.

"I don't think so."

* * *

"Finally, I found you…Vincent." 

JENOVA smiled as she kept his lithe form tight to her own. Despite the icy transformation raging within him his body was still so warm. She loved that warmth, his warmth, and soon she would make it hers. Soon, he would be hers.

She traced the swell of his pale lower lip with one lithe finger and wondered. For so long she waited for someone worthy to father her children to appear. Ever since she had first seen him, she knew. It was then, so many years ago, that this plan had begun. She whispered into Hojo's ear sweet nothings, all the while tempting him to do her bidding.

_Yes, inject him with cells and when my reign begins he will suffer, truly suffer…_

Ha, the fool, to believe such nonsense!

And to think that Hojo thought he would gain such a privilege. What right did he have to gain such power as hers? Why did he deserve such a station? No, he was simply a pawn.

But Vincent…

She brought her nose down to his throat and _breathed._ Gun smoke and male through and through. She nuzzled the joint between his jaw and his shoulder gently, letting her cold lips brush here and there against his fiery skin as she breathed, "Vincent…I'll take away your pain. I'll give you power, I'll give you love, and in return all I ask is you, all of you. I will make you a God."

His skin crawled beneath her breath, his every cell unknowingly responding to her call as the transformation neared its peak. He seemed to grow more beautiful, more deadly, with each breath. Before her very eyes his clothing shifted and changed.

The black leathers of his uniform melted away into smoke and air. His thick red cloak bled away into a color as dark as night and fell down to gather about his waist and hip. His boot disappeared into nothingness and the gold glimmer of his claw melted away into perfect, marble, human flesh.

JENOVA smiled, "You're so close now…all you need is one last push…and I know exactly what you need."

Her teeth grew closer to the fragile flesh of his throat.

* * *

"Where did he go? Aeris, ask the Planet! Ask the Ancients! We have to find him, we have to get him back!" Zack breathed out in a rush as they flew down the halls and corridors of the estate. 

"Don't you think I know that, Zack?" Aeris said, her tone strained, "I know! They won't answer me! They don't know!"

"What are you two bickering about? The Kid can fend for himself!" Cid growled feeling strangely left out of some big secret or another as he watched the two converse.

"No, we have to find him!" he snapped and was about to pick up the pace when he noticed that the others were beginning to slow down. He came to a halt beside Aeris, "Why are we--?"

Aeris merely gasped, "Zack…I'm so sorry…"

"I don't—"

"Did you miss me, Zack?"

His brilliant MAKO kissed eyes went wide. He knew that voice…Oh how he _knew_ that voice. Slowly, every fiber of his being screaming, he turned to face him.

"…Sephiroth."

The silver haired General merely smiled.

"We meet again."

* * *

"You called, JENOVA?" said a hawkish voice, his tone as disgusting as the devotion held within it. 

JENOVA smiled, "Yes. I have one last thing to ask of you," she continued to slip her fingers through her beloved's hair.

"Merely name it," Hojo said, his tone as excited to please as it was confused at the sight of his former experiment.

JENOVA smiled, "Die."

The door behind him locked, the sound deafening as he regarded her with wide eyes.

_Die…_

* * *

**Alright, that's it for now. With finals looming around the corner…well, yeah. I'm sorry this update took so long and I wish I could have spent a bit more time on it but college simply would have none of it.**

**Anyways, good news… hopefully I'll get this entire fic finished by Christmas or New Years. I think there is only…two or three more chapters left until its done. Also, once it is done, I'll continue with Tomorrow We Believe, But Not Today, of course, but I will also be going through this one again and revamping it of its errors. Yay!**

**Bad news…no spell check. - Please forgive me…**

**And please review!! Pretty please?**

**-Spazzy the Blindfolded Angel**

**PS: Wow, 9653 hits. Thanks, guys, I love you all. **


	23. Losing Hope, Gaining Sight

Chapter 23: Losing Hope, Gaining Sight

"I don't understand," Hojo stuttered, his already pale face whiter than death, "I've done everything that you have ever asked of me. I gave you a son, I gave you freedom…you promised me that you would make me a God!"

JENOVA smiled, "And foolishly you believed me. Was it not you, yourself, who once said do not make rash decisions based off love and foolish reason? I believe Vincent can attest to that. After all, you said it to him, did you not?"

Hojo, enraged, turned his gaze upon the man who once served him as a bodyguard, "Why is he not dead? You told me the Stigma would take him. You told me he would suffer, that he would die!"

She smiled and caressed the slumbering man's cheek, "I did not lie. He did suffer and his mortal self has perished. Soon, very soon, he shall become a God and the Father of my children. It's all thanks to you, Simon. You gave me a son and the promise of a lover. Now I need you to keep that promise. You will face him, the Monster of your creation, and you will die."

Hojo jerkily began to back away into the locked doors behind him, "He is not worthy of your love! You should kill him. He wants you dead! After all I have done for you, you'd rather have a man that does not love you?"

"Love is optional," JENOVA purred, and watched Vincent's waking face through Lucrecia's long lashes, "He is the only man worthy of me and soon, with time, he will come to love me."

Hojo shook his head and snarled, "You are a fool to turn me down, to take him."

She ignored him and instead gently brushed the tips of her silken fingers along Vincent's face until, quite slowly, he stirred, "Vincent, my love, I have a gift for you."

Through fluttering, long black lashes she could see his beautiful, blazing eyes. They retained their red luster but deep within them, at their very middle, was the slightest twist of gold and pink along the pupil. However, as she expected, those beautiful eyes were clouded over with confusion and blind exhaustion. The transformation had spent what little will power the man had left and all that was left behind was a shell of who he once was.

No matter, once he finished his transformation he would regain all his former intellect and spirit. It was only a matter of time.

He looked at her with clouded eyes but did not utter a word.

"The transformation will be over soon," she cooed, "And with it, all your suffering. But if you want that pain to end, Vincent--if you want your sins to leave you be--you must do one last thing," she said softly, similar to the manner in which an adult would speak to a tired child.

Vincent's eyes did not stray from her face, haunting and beautiful.

"Kill the one who started it all. Kill him. After all, it's his fault. Kill him, Vincent. Once and for all put him in his place six feet under."

She watched as recognition slowly bled into his eyes. Those eyes drifted from her face to Hojo's and she knew then that in this moment, to him, she did not exist. All that was there in the world for Vincent was Hojo and revenge. The ex-Turk slowly lifted himself up and away from her lap.

"N-now, now, Vincent, lets not get too hasty here. I am just as much of a victim as you are, my boy!" Hojo breathed.

_"Did you hear me, my boy?" _

_"What are you doing here, boy!?"_

_"Did you think you could truly please her, boy?"_

_"Foolish boy."_

_"She had you wound around her finger, didn't she, boy?"_

JENOVA watched as steam seemed to billow forth from the raw anger burning in her loved one's veins. Vincent was not a man, not here, not now. He was hell storm and wrath, he was fury and death, and he was an animal stalking its prey, but not a man, never a man. He crept forward, deft to the Scientist's mindless bickering, and paused a very small distance away.

His lids flickered, his lashes danced, and all the while his red irises rolled within their sockets.

_"Look at what you've done, boy!"_

_"If not for me you would not be standing here today, my boy."_

_"My boy, My Little Monster."_

_"This is all your fault, boy, look at the damage you have wrought."_

_"…Vincent."_

"Vincent!" Hojo murmured deliriously as he watched the monstrous form of his opponent cease in its sudden shuddering. All at once the black haired man's muscles seemed to go from spastic to whipcord tight and controlled. The very atoms of the room seemed drawn to him and his ethereal beauty, his deadly poise.

He opened his eyes and when Hojo finally met them, all he could find within the bloody windows was insanity and death.

Vincent's face was nearly split in half by a smile, a demented smile—a predatory smile. It bore his pearly whites, each and every one, and Hojo shuddered as he watched.

"Doctor, it's been a long time," Vincent spoke, his tone not gravelly as Hojo remembered it, but layered in a dark glaze and touched with a tone that held no trace of the man he had once been.

Hojo shuddered, _Oh Gaia, I'm going to die…_

Vincent tilted his head in a way similar to a bird a prey, _watch you in one eye, watch my back with the other_, and laughed. The chortle was deep, so much so that one strained to hear the gravel rich texture in it.

Every muscle in Vincent's body relaxed, and every particular that was once drawn to him slowly released, flexed, and expanded to fit the room. The man's aura suffocated the room, suffocated even JENOVA's presence, and clouded Hojo's reason.

"Are you proud now, Doctor?" Vincent asked, and leaned closer to the sniveling man's face, "Do I deserve a project number _now, _Doctor? Am I still a _failure_, Doctor?"

"Vincent…_please…_"

Vincent looked taken aback, his eyes wide and his expression truly aghast. For a moment, just a _second_, hope blossomed in Hojo's heart. But the feeling quickly crumbled.

"You're asking me for…_mercy?_" the ex-Turk asked.

The Doctor watched him fearfully.

Vincent took two steps closer, close enough that there was barely an inch between his huge frame, and the Doctor's frail one. The almost-god raised his flawless left arm, and examined the way his muscles moved underneath his flesh as he flexed. Vincent's voice was dry and dead when he responded.

"Lets see how much of a monster you succeeded in turning me into, Hojo."

* * *

Zachary had not changed, that much Sephiroth could tell. Still overly eager, still proud, and still too much of a hero to see when it was useless to struggle. Sephiroth did not prepare his sword for he did not need to. Zack would not attack him suddenly, he was not a coward, and the One-Winged Angel had no doubts about his own abilities. Zack would be no challenge at all.

He allowed his emerald eyes to shift from Zack to his companions. "Quite a ragtag group you've got yourself Zack, but something is missing…where's Cloud?"

"He's not here," Zack snapped, his eyes just as furious as all the others.

"Ah," the General merely said, "Too bad."

Zack's brows furrowed and he kept his hand near the hilt of his blade, "What do you want?"

Sephiroth smiled and drew his blade in one long glorious arc of silver, "You know what I want, Zack."

"It doesn't have to be like this, Sephiroth!" Aeris called, her hand clasped before her, "You don't have to listen to Her!"

Sephiroth quirked a brow and allowed his smile to transform into a knowing smirk, "Are you bored with the three you stole from Mother already, Flower Girl?"

Aeris' brows drew tight, eyes downcast, but Zack swiftly shifted to stand in front of her, "Leave her out of this, Sephiroth. This is between SOLDIERs."

"Monsters, you mean."

Zack faltered, "W-what?"

"Monsters…" Sephiroth regarded him with cool eyes, "This is between _monsters,_ Fair."

Zack frowned, "Not all of us turned into monsters. Angeal didn't. I didn—" Sephiroth interrupted him with a large bark of laughter.

"You didn't?"

Zack frowned angrily, but Sephiroth continued regardless, "Tell me Fair, is it _normal_ for a man to kill nearly 200 SOLDIERs before being taken down? SOLDIERs, Fair. Men and women all infused with MAKO. But you…you weren't like _them._ You _aren't_ like _them," _Sephiroth motioned to himself, "No, Fair, you're one of _us._ Taken in as another one of Hojo's lab rats when you showed potential. Experimented on. I bet you even have a number. No, Fair. Call yourself a man all you want, but at the end of the day you're just like us. Like Genesis, like me, like your mentor, like Cloud…like our _Father._"

Zack looked furious, but said nothing.

Sephiroth turned to regard him, "You think you can defeat me, Fair?"

Zack brought out his own weapon and regarded the One-Winged Angel over the flat of his steel, "Yeah."

"So be it."

"Everyone else get out of here!" Zack said but it was one instant too late. At the very moment Zack drew breath to warn his comrades the General was already lifting his hand to call forth a barrier to the area.

When the dust cleared and the glow of the barrier finally sealed to the area air tight, the room was left with Cid, Aeris, Zack, and Sephiroth. Nanaki was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

Rosso was faster than Death itself! No matter how hard he tried to evade her he always received a small reminder of her talent. A cut upon his cheek here, a gash upon his thigh there, and no amount of pre-emptive planning could save him. He was tired; he was aching, and the Tsveit just coming at him faster.

"Ready to give in, boy?" Rosso laughed from the winds and Vince merely scowled.

"Hell no," he barked and gripped his pistol a bit harder.

"Oh really?" Rosso mocked as she appeared before him, her blade digging into his shoulder deeply. Vince barely bit back a scream as she pressed the steel into him a bit deeper, "You seem tired to me."

The Turk growled and angrily shoved the barrel of his pistol to the hand holding her weapon. Without a word he fired again and again and again until he heard the sick sound of her hand falling to the cold stone of the Labyrinth.

She screeched, her voice stinging his eardrums, and pushed him away. Bonelessly he fell to the ground and attempted to stem the flow of blood welling from the wound. With a hasty cure spell on his tongue he tried his hand at healing the wound with what little magic he had left. The skin healed nicely, but the effort left him breathless.

A gunshot that did not belong to him erupted suddenly in the stillness of the basement. Rosso screamed once more and turned to regard the coward.

Vince glanced to the figure behind her and felt relief grab at his cold heart. _Veld_…

"No one touches one of my Turks," Veld snapped, "Got it?"

Rosso screamed furiously at the man who shot her, "He's _mine._"

Veld laughed and released another shot playfully. The bullet hit her in her remaining wrist. She screeched louder. With each foot gained, Veld let loose another bullet. With each bullet, Rosso let loose another howl of rage, and agony. With each scream, she slumped a little further down.

_Careful,_ Vincent heard the voice of his training chime in his head, _the cowards like to play possum_.

When he came back to himself, Veld was standing at the edge of the pool of Rosso's blood. He was watching her twitching body bemusedly, and when he deemed her dead he flicked a bit of ash from the bud of his cigarette onto her body.

"You alright there, kid?"

Vince laughed bitterly, the sound strained and nearly hysterical. _Nearly._

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," his mentor whispered in a smoky exhale.

"How…?" Vince asked, Rosso forgotten.

"Gaia has deemed my help as necessary. I thought your elder associate had things taken care of," Veld said as he turned and threw Vince a bottle of potion, "But I was wrong, evidently. He's gone and gotten himself into a right good mess and left me to pick up the pieces." Veld flicked the dead remains of his cigarette away, slipped another stick out fresh from the box, and fiddled with his lighter until he had the new one lit, "Just like good ol' times, right, kid?"

"Heh, yeah."

The younger man downed the potion quickly but remained seated.

Veld let him rest, and watched him sadly. _Gaia has asked so much of you Vincent…in more life times than one._

"You know where we're going, kid?" Veld asked.

"We're almost there."

"Good."

* * *

His legs burned from exertion, but he knew he couldn't stop. Each flaming breath couldn't distract him, every flinching muscle could not stop him. Nanaki had to find Cloud. He had to find Cloud because only Cloud could fight Sephiroth and win.

_Cloud…Cloud where are you?_

* * *

His bladder had let out at some point, and Vincent's nose burned at the raw fear that wafted up from the smell of Hojo's urine. Said Doctor was currently curled in the corner, babbling over the amount of blood on the floor that belonged to him. It wasn't _that_ much…not really. Vincent had seen a lot worse, and usually those occasions had involved his well-being, his blood.

It wasn't that much. Just a gouge in the arm, a nick in the leg, a bloody lip…a crushed Achilles heel. All right, both of them crushed…and some minor damage to a few internal organs. Nothing, really, he would heal soon. That was what he was actually _waiting for, _truth be told. But the longer he waited, the more he came to realize that Hojo wasn't going to heal.

He looked from the blood to the whiny excuse of a Doctor to his own bloody hands—aghast.

It just didn't make any sense to Vincent, or whatever Vincent had become. Why was the man crying? He would heal. If he made it possible for the ex-Turk to heal regardless of command, wouldn't he have done the same thing to himself? Why wouldn't he modify his own body? Why?

"Because, Vincent, his body can't _handle_ modifications," JENOVA purred from somewhere, but he didn't process her presence. He did hear her, though, and what she said made him feel uneasy. Couldn't handle it? No…no he could _handle it._ He had transformed back during the Meteor scare, hadn't he? But had he healed…?

_Had he healed?_

Vincent's brow furrowed at the thought, heedless of JENOVA or Hojo.

No. No, Hojo hadn't healed. He had died. Died during the battle over Meteor. Died during the battle in Deep Ground. Hojo couldn't handle the modifications…couldn't handle them because he rejected them. That would turn the Doctor into one of them. Into something like Vincent, or Genesis, or Sephiroth, or Angeal, or Zack…into a monster. Hojo wouldn't be human…somewhere in his soul, Hojo valued humanity.

He _valued _his humanity. He still does.

Vincent saw red, and the thing within him fed off of that raw fury.

_He valued his own humanity but not ours. Never ours. Didn't give a shit about ours._

Vincent loomed over the quieting Doctor, and watched. He seemed to breath anger, inhaled irrational thought and exhaled bitter hatred. Years worth of desire for revenge rose in a tide to consume him, and consume him it did.

His body no longer held eyes for the man Vincent Valentine was. But they did hold eyes for _him._

He had no words for Hojo, only years. Years and years and years…years stolen, and reaped.

* * *

With each clash of metal, the bones in his arms jarred painfully. Each movement reminded him of their battle in Midgar—even if it was a computer simulation—and again in Nibelheim. During each of those moments Sephiroth's eyes had been cold, detached, and emotionless. Their battles then had been a task rather than a struggle of life and death. Nothing had changed for the better. Sephiroth was still fighting him with ease while Zack puffed to keep up.

The only difference between now and then was that Sephiroth seemed to be _excited._ Excited to kill him, to kill Aerith and Cid…to finally have a complete family. The presence of that emotion made Zack fight harder, but the effort meant little. Zack knew he was going to die here. His only regret was that this would be the second time he would leave Aerith behind…the second time he could not stop her untimely demise.

"Sephiroth, please!" Zack exclaimed as the force of the last sword clash pressed him back a few feet, "Listen to reason!"

"I am," Sephiroth replied, and swept forth with another graceful thrust of his blade. His counter faltered, and the icy length of Masamune slipped against his knuckles, kissing each of them before retreating to Sephiroth's side.

Zack yelped, but did not drop his blade. His fingers screamed with the pain only useless wounds could bring, but the SOLDIER ignored it. A muscle twitched along his jaw line, a stress induced habit given to him after his escape from Hojo's labs.

"This is ridiculous." Zack breathed sadly.

"Giving up so soon, Fair?" Sephiroth watched him in amusement.

"No…" Zack said, but in his voice there was an air of finality, "No."

Sephiroth raised Masamune to linger above his head in a glorious silver arc and sighed, "You couldn't have it the easy way, could you, Fair?"

The gaze Fair fixed him with was answer enough.

"So be it."

Aerith screamed.

Blood hit Zack square in the face.

Masamune stood at a stand still within the flesh of another dying victim.

Cid laughed, but the sound was forced, and weak, "I know you have more fight in you than that, Fair."

The pilot fixed Zack with a gaze from over his shoulder, and in it Zack saw everything he needed to see. The life stream made his wounds tingle as Aerith silently summoned a healing spell to help him. A spell that would have caught Sephiroth's attention, if not for Cid. A spell that would need all of her concentration. A spell that would heal him in flying colors. A spell that would cost the life of Cid Highwind.

"Don't you worry your spiky little head over me, kid," Cid wheezed. With a great effort he dragged his hands up and curled them around the length of Sephiroth's blade. With a grunt, he tightened his grip and _held, _"I've had a full life, and I have no regrets. I done some bad things, and I've done some good…but I wouldn't change any of it for anything. So don't you worry yourself none, kid…I want this."

Zack's brows furrowed, but he nodded, "Alright…alright Captain."

"I'll hold this bastard still," Cid growled, and when Sephiroth finally had enough sense to pull his sword free, he gained no ground. With the few feet he pulled, Cid followed.

Zack nodded, and when the spell Aerith had settled upon him healed his more strenuous wounds (_his stomach, his right tigh, his fingers, his forehead, his left bicep, and other things he forced himself to ignore)_ the SOLDIER began to move. With one strong twist of his hand, he had Angeal's legacy a breath away from his face.

_My honor…my dreams…_

He brought the blade down slowly before hefting it up and over his shoulder.

_They're yours now._

He circled around to the back of Sephiroth, and allowed the muscles in his legs to bundle. Years of MAKO experimentation rushed in to strengthen the ligaments of his muscles, and when he felt he could hold back the force of his bottled strength no longer, he let the spring burst.

Zack's legs unfurled. With the Buster sword over his shoulder, Zack cleared the ground. The Buster Sword began to cleave through the air, arcing up high into a critical position, and just as Zack hit the pinnacle of his jump, something _ripped. _

Cid's right lung collapsed as Sephiroth swept the blade into a hard clean left. Bone, tissue, and organ were cleaved in half as the sword followed the hand of its master. Out, around, and up. Sephiroth spun on heel, blade trailing behind him. The air screamed in a whistling breath as Masamune reaped its fill of resistance, and was brought up to meet one of the few survivors of its wrath.

Zack came down the only way he could: with his chest pierced on Masamune's blood slicked length. Zack cried out in agony, and was held in the air for a long moment. Sephiroth examined the victim held helplessly at the tip of his sword, and laughed, "You can't defeat me."

Blood streamed down from the corners of Zack's lips.

"Where's Cloud?"

Zack grit his teeth in a bloody grimace, "F--- you."

Sephiroth laughed, and began to walk forward, Fair still held feet off the ground, "How amusing…Once a puppy," he reached the wall and pressed the bloody back of Zack Fair upon it, "Always a puppy. Your bark has always been worse than your bite."

With a short thrust he had Masamune hilt deep in Zack's body, pinning him high to the wall. The SOLDIER let out a silent scream, his mouth open wide but soundless.

Aerith made up for it with a horrified scream of her own. Her concentration had been broken, her spell forgotten…

…and now there was no Cid Highwind to help her.

Sephiroth turned his back on Zack, and regarded the woman before him.

"Care for a reenactment of our time at the forgotten lake, Cetra?"

* * *

**Wow, has it really been a year since I've updated? Reading previous chapters...I couldn't help but cringe at my previous writing. Writing this chapter, I cringed again. Sorry guys, I really wish I could go back and just rewrite the whole thing the right way, make every thing the way I had first thought it would go when I came up with this story, but I'd never finish...I just hope I finish it as it is! It is a goal of mine, and I plan to get this done at some point in my life. So...yeah**

**...oh, and do you know how hard it is to type when there is a kitten curled around your hand and your laptop? Very. hard. I swear, I'll never get used to having a cat. I've always been a dog person....I'm not used to cats. -head desk- ah well...she's cute. **

**Bear with me, guys, I'll finish this story.**

**-spazzy  
**

**...oh, and do you know how hard it is to type when there is a kitten curled around your hand and your laptop? Very. hard. I swear, I'll never get used to having a cat. I've always been a dog person....I'm not used to cats. -head desk- ah well...she's cute. **

**Bear with me, guys, I'll finish this story.**

**-spazzy**


	24. Chapter 24

Sorry Guys, this is just an Author's Note-BUT IT IS IMPORTANT, if you have ever enjoyed my writing and are interested in reading more, please read!

I'm writing an online fiction web series and I'd like to let ya'll know about it! Below you will find all the information you need (summary, links, etc.) and I really, really, REALLY hope you guys check it out. Maybe leave a comment on the site? I'd love you to pieces.

* * *

**"A.R.C."**

**Summary: **When a biological attack hits the United States in 2012, humanity is pushed to it's limits to adapt. Victims become gripped by a severe allergic reaction to water. A new city is established—the Aquagenic-Mortis Rehabilitation City (A.R.C.)—to contain and protect the infected. Nearly thirty years later, people begin to disappear. A.R.C.-born citizens and possible carriers of an evolving strand of DNA could be the cure to end the disease. People like Noah. Now it's up to him, one of few immune to the disease, to find out the truth behind A.R.C. and the dark web of scandals that serve as its foundation.

_**w w w . a r c 2 0 1 2 . w e e b l y . c o m**_

_**"A.R.C." updates with a new chapter weekly. Every Wednesday, without fail.**  
_

You can also follow "A.R.C." on Tumblr - just write a-r-c2012 and then the rest of the tumblr address.

Full link for the first chapter (just take out all the spaces)

w w w . a r c 2 0 1 2 . w e e b l y . c o m

* * *

The reason why I'm posting information about this here, is because the reason why I started writing fanfiction was to better myself as an author and a lot of you provided amazing feedback and critique. I hope that even though this isn't a fanfiction, that you'll still give it a shot and maybe even enjoy it.

Also, I do still plan to finish "Two Where There Was One" and "Tomorrow We Believe, But Not Today". It's just hard to find time lately to write fanfiction. Sorry guys, I know it's been forever. Hopefully "A.R.C." will make up for it?

I really hope to see you there.

-Spazzy (aka Blindfolded Angel)


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